Ireland has owned Cheltenham for years. Willie Mullins has won the leading trainer award at the Festival for the last seven consecutive years, and the Irish have taken the Prestbury Cup in the same dominant fashion. British yards have had their moments, but the overall pattern has been hard to argue with.
That might be about to change, and the horse racing odds heading into March reflect it, with British-trained runners sitting at the head of several major markets for the first time in a long while. A handful of British trainers arrive at Prestbury Park with genuine reason to believe this is their year.
Dan Skelton
Dan Skelton is the most obvious name on that list. He has 11 Festival winners to his name, with seven of those coming in the last three years alone, and he arrives in 2026 with what he himself has described as the strongest squad he has ever sent to Cheltenham.
His primary target on the opening day is The New Lion in the Champion Hurdle. The New Lion is one of the favourites with a price of 9/4, though he has not entirely convinced since stepping up into open company this season, falling when under pressure in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle before bouncing back at Cheltenham on Trials Day. There are still questions to answer, but Skelton has form with horses who improve when the Festival spotlight finds them.
He also has Grey Dawning entered in the Gold Cup at around 16/1, a horse he has been quietly targeting at the race all season. Skelton has been open that Grey Dawning’s performances so far do not yet meet the standard traditionally required to win a Gold Cup, but he also believes the horse has more to give and has been training with the race as his clear end goal. A winner in either of those races would represent a genuine step up in the biggest moments.
Nicky Henderson
Nicky Henderson’s story this year is built around Jango Baie and the Gold Cup. The seven-year-old won last year’s Arkle and has since stepped up markedly in trip, with Henderson sending him straight to the Festival without a run since the King George on Boxing Day, a decision that reflects considerable confidence in his readiness.
Henderson won the Gold Cup with Long Run in 2011 and Bobs Worth in 2013, and a third win would be a significant moment for a trainer whose recent Festivals have been shaped more by what went wrong than what went right. Constitution Hill’s fall at Newcastle earlier this season added another frustrating chapter to a period Henderson will want to move on from. Jango Baie gives him a real chance of doing exactly that.
Ben Pauling
Ben Pauling deserves a mention too. The Jukebox Man is unbeaten in four starts over fences and landed the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, beating Banbridge in a race that announced him as a serious Gold Cup contender.
Pauling is not a household name in the way Skelton or Henderson are, but his horse arrives at Cheltenham with a record that demands respect and a genuine chance of winning the race that defines the entire week.
