In recent years, it isn’t a question of whether there will be Irish winners at Cheltenham, but how many? The number of successful Emerald Isle raiders at the Festival is a much-debated pre-meeting question.
National Hunt racehorses trained in Ireland look set to dominate the major jumps meeting once again this season. But just how many were there last year (2024) and how many can we expect to see them get in 2025?
Read on as we look at the record of the Irish at Cheltenham since 2014 and also highlight their ten-year record race-by-race.
Eighteen Irish Winners at Cheltenham in the Last Three Seasons
In each of the last three years (2022, 2023 and 2024), horses trained in the Emerald Isle have come away with 18 Cheltenham winners from the Festival.
Last season, Henry De Bromhead got the ball rolling for Ireland with Slade Steel winning the Cheltenham Festival curtain-raiser, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Gaelic Warrior quickly followed-up in the Arkle, the very next race.
If history tells us anything about the Irish winners at Cheltenham, though, they often find the Ultima Handicap Chase, which is the third race on day one, difficult to win. The 3m 1f contest has been dire for Ireland recent years and by far their worst race at the meeting.
This has been backed up with only two winners in the Ultima Handicap Chase since 1967. These were Dun Doire (2006) and Youlneverwalkalone (2003).
However, raiders from the Emerald Isle tend to get back on track soon after the Ultima, with top records in the Champion Hurdle, Mares Hurdle, Fred Winter and National Hunt Chase.
Ireland Sent Out 23 Winners at 2021 Festival
In 2021, Ireland fired in an incredible 23 winners from the 28 races on the overall Cheltenham schedule as the home team picked up just five victories. In other words, some 82% of successful horses were Irish winner at Cheltenham races that year.
Given this superb recent record for the Emerald Isle, it’s no wonder that the best Cheltenham betting sites have Ireland long odds-on favourites to win the Prestbury Cup over Team GB again. You can see the full list of Irish past Cheltenham winners from last season below:
ALL 18 Irish Winners at Cheltenham In 2024
- Day One: Slade Steel (Supreme), Gaelic Warrior (Arkle), State Man (Champion Hurdle), Lossiemouth (Mares’ Hurdle), Lark In The Mornin (Fred Winter), Corbetts Cross (NH Chase).
- Day Two: Ballyburn (Turners), Fact To File (Brown Advisory), Captain Guinness (Champion Chase), Jasmin De Vaux (Champion Bumper)
- Day Three: Teahupoo (Stayers’ Hurdle), Inothewayurthinkin (Kim Muir),
- Day Four: Majborough (Triumph), Absurde (County Hurdle), Stellar Story (Albert Bartlett), Galopin Des Champs (Gold Cup), Limerick Lace (Mares’ Chase), Better Days Ahead (Martin Pipe)
WATCH: Galopin Des Champs Winning The 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup
Irish Winners at Cheltenham Race-by-Race Record (Last 10 Runnings)
Based on the 2025 Cheltenham Festival schedule, here is the 10-year record of winners from Ireland.
Tues 11th March 2025
- 1:20 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – 6/10
- 2:00 Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase – 7/10
- 2:40 Ultima Handicap Chase Premier Handicap – 0/10
- 3:20 Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle – 8/10
- 4:00 Champion Hurdle – 6/10
- 4:40 Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – 7/10
- 5:20 National Hunt Chase – 8/10
Weds 12th March 2025
- 1:20 Turners Novices’ Hurdle – 9/10
- 2:00 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase – 4/10
- 2:40 Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle – 5/10
- 3:20 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase – 8/10
- 4:00 BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase – 5/10
- 4:40 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase – 3/10
- 5:20 Weatherbys Champion Bumper – 8/10
Thurs 13th March 2025
- 1:20 Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle – 6/9
- 2:00 Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase – N/A
- 2:40 Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle – 7/10
- 3:20 Ryanair Chase – 7/10
- 4:00 Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle – 6/10
- 4:40 TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase – 5/10
- 5:20 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Chase – 6/10
Fri 14th March 2025
- 1:20 JCB Triumph Hurdle – 7/10
- 2:00 County Hurdle Premier Handicap – 6/10
- 2:40 Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase – 4/4
- 3:20 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle – 7/10
- 4:00 Cheltenham Gold Cup – 8/10
- 4:40 St James’s Place Festival Hunter Chase – 3/10
- 5:20 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – 7/10
Ireland & Great Britain Battle Each Year For The Prestury Cup – But What Is It?
Starting in 2014, the Prestbury Cup is the annual battle between how many Irish and Team GB winners there will be over the four-day meeting. With 28 Cheltenham races today at the fixture – this means it’s the first country to train fifteen winners that wins.
While, with there being an equal number of Cheltenham races (28) there is also a chance of a tie. Something that happened in 2019.
However, since the Prestbury Cup began in 2014, the Irish Cheltenham winners have dominated with eight wins, to just two for GB (see below).
Prestbury Cup: Irish vs GB Winners at Cheltenham Since 2014
| Year | Winner | Irish Wins | British Wins |
| 2024 | Ireland 🇮🇪 | 18 | 9 |
| 2023 | Ireland 🇮🇪 | 18 | 10 |
| 2022 | Ireland 🇮🇪 | 18 | 10 |
| 2021 | Ireland 🇮🇪 | 23 | 5 |
| 2020 | Ireland 🇮🇪 | 17 | 10 |
| 2019 | Tie | 14 | 14 |
| 2018 | Ireland 🇮🇪 | 17 | 11 |
| 2017 | Ireland 🇮🇪 | 19 | 9 |
| 2016 | Ireland 🇮🇪 | 15 | 13 |
| 2015 | Great Britain 🇬🇧 | 13 | 14 |
| 2014 | Great Britain 🇬🇧 | 12 | 15 |
How Many Irish Winners at Cheltenham Can We Expect in 2025?
Of course, it’s hard to predict exactly – but with eighteen being a popular number of Irish Cheltenham winners in the last three years – this is probably a good place to start.
Ireland may be hard-pushed to better their 2021 haul of 23 winners with top British trainer Nicky Henderson having a stronger squad this year that includes the likes of Constitution Hill and Jonbon.
However, we can still expect an army of Willie Mullins Cheltenham runners to come over from the Emerald Isle as he looks to beat the nine Festival winners he sent out in 2024.
One of the star names from the Closutton camp is Kopek Des Bordes, who has short Cheltenham odds to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
While another Mullins big gun is Galopin Des Champs – the two-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner who will be hoping to become the first treble winner of the race since Best Mate.
