With the biggest race on the jumps calendar right around the corner, check out the Cheltenham Gold Cup trends that could leave fan favourite Galopin Des Champs in a spot of bother.
You can also see all of other Cheltenham Festival day four trends for the remainder the races on the day.
2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup Trends Tell Us Last 26 Winners Were Aged Nine Or Younger
One of the talking horses of the season and always a popular name when Cheltenham comes around is two-time Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs, but the stats say he will find it hard to win it this year.
The last horse with ‘veteran’ status (aged 10 or older) was Cool Dawn in 1998 (25/1) for trainer Robert Alner. That means that of the last 26 winners have been nine or younger.
Galopin Des Champs won the race back-to-back in 2023 and 2024 but now aged 10, he could find it hard. However, crazier things have certainly happened and if there’s any trainer that can do it then it’s Willie Mullins.
The Closutton maestro has won the Gold Cup four times, with two different horses. Al Boum Photo won it back-to-back in 2019/2020 and Galopin Des Champs did the same a few years later.
Different to previous years, when Galopin Des Champs has been one of the hot Cheltenham Festival favourites, he’s as big as 10/1 in some places this time around.
If the 10-year-0ld was to defy the Cheltenham Gold Cup trends and win the race for a third time, he would cement his name as one of the all-time greats.
WATCH: Galopin Des Champs Wins 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup
Irish Trainers Have Won Last SEVEN Gold Cups
Frustratingly for British trainers like Dan Skelton and Nicky Henderson, the Cheltenham Gold Cup has been dominated by the Irish in recent years.
Before last year, the previous six Gold Cups were shared out between Mullins and Henry De Bromhead, until last year when Gavin Cromwell’s Inothewayurthinkin produced an almighty shock.
Last Seven Gold Cup Winners
- 2025 – Inothewayurthinkin (15/2) – Gavin Cromwell (JP McManus)
- 2024 – Galopin Des Champs (10/11) – Willie Mullins (Mrs Audrey Turley)
- 2023 – Galopin Des Champs (7/5) – Willie Mullins (Mrs Audrey Turley)
- 2022 – A Plus Tard (3/1) – Henry De Bromhead (Cheveley Park Stud)
- 2021 – Minella Indo (9/1) – Henry De Bromhead (Barry Maloney)
- 2020 – Al Boum Photo (100/30) – Willie Mullins (Mrs J Donnelly)
- 2019 – Al Boum Photo (12/1) – Willie Mullins (Mrs J Donnelly)
Being 7 Or 8 Is Just One Of The Positive Cheltenham Gold Cup Trends
Horses to win the Gold Cup in the last nine years were ALL aged seven or eight. The last to buck this trend was the mighty Don Cossack, who still remains Gordon Elliott’s sole winner in the race.
So, if you’re looking away from Cheltenham Racecourse lover Galopin Des Champs, maybe keep an eye out for horses aged seven or eight. See some of them listed below and don’t forget you can watch the Gold Cup live on ITV Racing on day four of the Festival.
- Gaelic Warrior – 8
- Jango Baie – 7
- The Jukebox Man – 8
- Inothewayurthinkin – 8
- Spillane’s Tower – 8
- Affordale Fury – 8
WATCH: Inothewayurthinkin Dazzles In 2025 Gold Cup
🟢🟡 The King is dethroned!
Inothewayurthinkin denies Galopin Des Champs a third Cheltenham Gold Cup with a brilliant performance pic.twitter.com/FXeHBTmxfr
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 14, 2025
Full 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup Trends
Positive Trends
- 21 of the last 26 winners ran in the Savills Chase or King George that season
- 21 of the last 25 finished 1st or 2nd last time out
- 21 of the last 26 winners were 2nd or 3rd season chasers
- 13 of the last 20 winners had run 9 or less times over fences
- 25 of the last 26 winners were Grade 1 winners
- Every winner since 2000 only had one season hurdling
- 21 of the last 25 had won or placed at the Festival before
- 21 of the last 25 winners hailed from the top 3 in the betting
- 23 of the last 26 winners had raced no more than 12 times over fences
- 16 of the last 18 winners ran 3 or less times that season
- 18 of the last 29 winners were bred in Ireland
- 18 of the last 25 winners won last time out
- 12 of the last 23 winners were favourites (52%)
- 14 of the last 21 winners yet to win beyond 3m 1/2f
- ALL of the last 26 winners were aged 9 or younger
- 25 of the last 26 winners aged between 7-9 years-old (12 of last 13 aged 7 or 8)
- 23 of the last 26 winners were in their first three seasons over fences
- Horses placed in a previous Supreme Novices’ Hurdle have a good record
- 5 of the last 15 winners ran in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase the previous season
- Trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Paul Townend have won 4 of the last 7 runnings
- Willie Mullins and Henry De Bromhead have won 6 of the last 7 between them
- The last 7 winners Irish trained (9 of the last 10 Irish-trained too)
Negative Trends
- Non-Grade One winners have a poor record
- No winner older than 10 years-old since 1969
- Just one winning 6 year-old since 1964
- Just one past winner for Gordon Elliott (Don Cossack)
- Horses rated 166 or less are only 7 from last 59 – but last year’s winner rated 160
- Avoid horses that had run on ‘heavy’ ground that season
- Horses wearing headgear have a bad recent record
- Only 3 winners since 2000 returned 9/1 or bigger
- Just 2 of the last 17 winners had raced more than 3 times that season
- Horses that were beaten in their first Gold Cup don’t fare well
- Only 2 winners since 2000 had previously been beaten in the race
- Just 3 of the last 25 winners placed in the race before
- No winner since 2000 ran in that season’s Cotswold Chase
2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup Betting Odds
- Jango Baie 5/1
- The Jukebox Man 11/2
- Gaelic Warrior 13/2
- Galopin Des Champs 8/1
- Inothewayurthinkin 8/1
- Haiti Couleurs 9/1
- Grey Dawning 16/1
- Spillane’s Tower 16/1
- 33/1 Bar
