BLUFF YOUR WAY TO FESTIVAL SUCCESS - SOUND LIKE AN EXPERT

Tuesday 10th - Friday 13th March
28 Races
14 Grade 1s

£4.93 million in prize money

£625,000 Gold Cup prize money of which £269,000 paid to the winning owner
Prize Money down to 8th place

£1750 paid to the 8th placed owner

£450,000 Champion Hurdle
£400,000 Queen Mother Chase
£375,000 Ryan Air Chase
£325,000 Stayers Hurdle

Top Jockeys: 

Paul Townend – 38 Festival Winners

Paul rode about 40 miles on horse back at the 2025 Festival

Harry Cobden - 6 Festival Winners

Sean Bowen 52 rides 

at the Festival 0 winners!

Top Trainers: 

Willie Mullins – 113 Festival Winners

Nicky Henderson - 75 Festival Winners

Fergal O’Brien 58 runners 

at the Festival 0 winners

Day One

Old Course

Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle

Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy

Unibet Champion Hurdle - First Run 1927

Day Two 

Old Course

Turners Novices Hurdle

Brown Advisory Novices Chase

Bet MGM Queen Mother Champion Chase - First run 1952

Weatherbys Champion Bumper

Day Three

New Course

Close Brothers Mares Hurdle

Paddy Power Stayers Hurdle - First run 1946

Ryanair Steeplechase

Day Four

New Course

JCB Triumph Hurdle

Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle

Boodles Gold Cup - First Run 1924

Festivals Oldest Races

The Grand Annual - 1834

National Hunt Challenge - 1860

The race that gave the Festival its name

"The National Hunt Festival"

Festival Hunter Chase - 1904

The biggest tophy of them all

formerly known as The Foxhunters

Stayers Hurdle - 1912

County Hurdle - 1913

First meeting at Cheltenham 1908

Festival Established in 1911 - 2 Days

3 Days - 1923 

4 Days - 2005

The Two Courses
The Old Course at Cheltenham is sharper, favouring speedy and prominent runners, while the New Course is more demanding, testing stamina with a longer run-in and tougher uphill finish.

The Jumps

Hurdles - Small jumps – usually 3 .5 ft (1.07m)

Steeplechase Fences - Larger jumps - at least 4.5ft (1.37)

How Fast Are They Travelling?
One Furlong = 200m

8 Furlongs = 1 mile

Inothewayurthinkin averaged 15.20 seconds a furlong in the Gold Cup (29.4mph)

Golden Ace was 14.40 seconds in the Champion Hurdle (31mph)

Usain Bolt World Record 200m = 19.19 seconds

THE BOODLES GOLD CUP

The heavyweight championship of jump racing 

3m 2 furlongs 22 fences  

Can Inothewayurthinkin become the 9th horse to win back-to-back Cups?

Can Jango Baie give Nicky Henderson his third Gold Cup?

Could Haiti Couleurs be the first Welsh trained winner since 100-1 winner Norton’s Coin?

Could I Am Maximus or Nick Rocket be the 1st horses to win the Grand National then a Gold Cup?

Answer these questions yourself to reveal an answer! 

KING MONOLULU TIPS

Gaelic Warrior

The Champion Bumper

The Festival’s only flat race

Restricted to 4-6 year old horses

that have never been jumping 

Famous Winners:

The Mullins Family

Patrick Mullins x 4 winning rides

Willie Mullins x 14 winners

Which One Patrick?

Patrick Mullins has ridden six of the likely 

runners on their last start! 

Who will he ride on the day?

KING MONOLULU TIPS

Quiryn (Each Way)

The Champion Hurdle
12 of the past 15 winners were unbeaten during the season.

31 of the last 36 winners won their last start.

Mares have won 5 of the last 12 runnings.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase
15 of the past 25 winners had won at the Festival. 

The record of Dublin Chase winners is 0-6.

7 odds-on favourites have been beaten in the last 10 years.

The Stayers Hurdle 

7 of the past 12 winners were 2nd season hurdlers.

8 of the past 19 winners had run in the Cleeve Hurdle.

Only 4 of the last 25 winners hadn’t finished 1st or 2nd on last start.

The Ryan Air Chase 

The past 12 winners were all bred in France.

17 of the last 21 winners had previously won at Cheltenham.

Gordon Elliott is 0 wins from 8 attempts.

KING MONOLULU TIPS

Champion Hurdle

Poniros (Each-Way)

Queen Mother Champion Chase

Majborough 

Stayers Hurdle

Kabral Du Mathan (Each-Way)

RyanAir Chase

Fact To File 

 Races for Novices at The Festival

The novice races at the Festival are popular betting events.

What’s a Novice?

Novices are horses having their first season 

over hurdles or fences.

At the Festival there are:

3 Grade 1 Novice hurdle races

and a Grade 2 Novice Hurdle, which is reserved

just for mares. (female horses). 

2 x Grade 1 Novice Chases 

&

Princess Royal National Hunt Challenge Cup,

a novice chase reserved for Amateur riders. 

KING MONOLULU TIPS

The Supreme 

Race 1 Day 1

Old Park Star

Sober Glory (Each Way)

The Turners

Day 2 Race 1

Skylight Hustle

Mares Novice Hurdle
Day 3 Race 1

Bambino Fever

Albert Bartlett
Day 4 Race 4

Kripticjim (Each Way)

Whats a Handicap?

A handicap is a race where horses carry different weights assigned to them by the BHA handicapper based on their ability, with the aim of equializing their chance of winning. 

Better horses, are higher rated and carry more weight, while lower-rated horses carry less weight. 

This makes races competitive and therefore more compelling as betting events.

There are 12 handicap races at the Festival

In the County Handicap Hurdle the top weight (Rated 156) carried 12 stone (76.2kg) , the bottom weight, 

lowest rated, carried 10 stone two pounds (64.41kg)

King Monolulu’s Handicap Tips

Day 1 Race 4"The Ultima”

Hyland

Day 2 Race 3 “The Bet MGM Cup”

Jinko Blue

Day 3 Race 7"The Kim Muir”

Jeriko Du Reponet

Day 4 Race 2 “The County” Hurdle

Murcia

The Glenfarclass Cross Country

3 miles - 5 ½ furlongs

32 obstacles

Famous Winner:

Tiger Roll 2018, 2019 & 2021

First run: 2005

King Monolulu Tips

Favori de Champdou

Amateurs & Conditionals

Amateur riders don’t get paid to ride.

The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup

& The Festival Challenge Cup Hunter Chase

are both reserved for amateur riders.

The Hunter Chase is run over the Gold Cup 

course and is often referred to as the Foxhunters.

Conditional Riders are essentially apprentice riders,

indentured to a racing stable. They must be under 26.

In handicap races they are utilised to

reduce the weight allocated by the handicapper. 

This is known as “claiming an allowance”

20 winners or less: 7lb claim

21-50 winners: 5lb claim

51-75 winners: 3lb claim

75 winners: they turn proffessional

The last race of the Festival, the Martin Pipe Hurdle

is exclusively reserved conditional riders

Top Conditional to Follow: Freddie Gordon 23% strike rac

Unibet Champion Hurdle

7 winning mares

Boodles Gold Cup

4 winning mares

Dawn Run

40 Years Ago This Year

The only horse to have won 

the Gold Cup & Champion Hurdle

was a mare


Rachael Blackmore
Head of Ladies Day

 Rachael Blackmore is an Irish former National Hunt jockey. In 2021, she became the first female jockey to win the Grand National in the 182-year history of the race. She also became the first woman to be leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival with six victories, including the Champion Hurdle, in 2021.