The four-day, 28-race Festival, which begins on Tuesday, showcases the best Jumps racing and most of the best Jumps horses in the world. Thousands from this area will either be making their annual pilgrimage to the iconic track or they will be glued to their big screens, laptops or mobiles, watching the action unfold on ITV or Racing TV.
So we have grasped the opportunity to highlight 21 horses capable of stealing the show and making the headlines during Cheltenham week. Strongly fancied favourites and form horses, yes, but also lovable veterans and Festival mainstays. They are NOT tips but stars of the sport admired for their achievements, reputation or potential.
The main focus of this year’s meeting is on the 100th running of the Gold Cup, the blue riband event, with GALOPIN DES CHAMPS gunning for back-to-back victories. But another century could also fall under the spotlight because Galopin’s genius of a handler, Willie Mullins, is just six short of becoming the first trainer to saddle 100 Festival winners.
Astonishingly, Mullins is responsible for 23 per cent of all winners at the meeting in the last ten years. And even more astonishingly, he is responsible for the current favourites in 14 of this week's races – a tally boosted by the shock late defections of hotpots Constitution Hill and Marine Nationale.
Mullins spearheads a typically strong party of Irish raiders this year. Indeed, for the first time in Festival history, there have been more entries from across the Irish Sea than within the UK.
That, of course, reflects the fact that most of the best horses are trained in Ireland, where most of the deep-pocket owners choose to place their charges. But it also reflects the ongoing decline of Jumps racing in the UK and the fact that many trainers and owners, in the face of such powerful opposition, appear to have thrown in the towel.
It has been so depressing to hear a stream of comments this winter along the lines of “we’re going to give Cheltenham a miss” or “we’ll look for something at Aintree instead”. Attitudes in stark contrast, for example, to that of Irish ace Gordon Elliott who, quite rightly, relishes the standard-setting challenge posed by Mullins and hails the Festival as “the best week of the year” and the “be-all and end-all” of the Jumps code.
How refreshing then to hear a rallying-cry from one of the UK’s more up-and-coming and ambitious trainers, Ben Pauling. He recently told the ‘Racing Post’: “There are owners and trainers who think: let’s avoid the Irish. No! This is our festival and we’re going to compete, throw our best darts at it and serve it up to whoever turns up. Otherwise, what’s the point? Whether you like it or not, Cheltenham is the pinnacle of Jumps racing. Everyone should want to be there.”
And so say all of us. Let the games begin!
The main focus of this year’s meeting is on the 100th running of the Gold Cup, the blue riband event, with GALOPIN DES CHAMPS gunning for back-to-back victories. But another century could also fall under the spotlight because Galopin’s genius of a handler, Willie Mullins, is just six short of becoming the first trainer to saddle 100 Festival winners.
![Every now and then, a horse induces the wow factor with a winning performance that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. So it was with DYSART ENOS when she sprinted away with the mares' Bumper at Aintree last April. She has continued her progress with three wins out of three over timber this term, including at Cheltenham, and she now faces her acid test in the Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle on Thursday (4.50). Crucially, she receives 5lb from her two main rivals in her bid to give Gloucestershire-based trainer Fergal O'Brien his first Festival success.](https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/webimg/b25lY21zOjlhMDdkMWU3LTVhNTMtNDc3Yi1hMzc2LWExY2U2N2ZkYTYyZTplODk0MDlhYS1mN2Y1LTQwOGQtODhjOS1iMTA4OTU4ODQ4NzY=.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=640)
13. Novice hurdler with the wow factor
Every now and then, a horse induces the wow factor with a winning performance that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. So it was with DYSART ENOS when she sprinted away with the mares' Bumper at Aintree last April. She has continued her progress with three wins out of three over timber this term, including at Cheltenham, and she now faces her acid test in the Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle on Thursday (4.50). Crucially, she receives 5lb from her two main rivals in her bid to give Gloucestershire-based trainer Fergal O'Brien his first Festival success.Photo: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images
![The famous green and gold silks of JP McManus (pictured second from right) have been carried into the Cheltenham Festival winner's enclosure no fewer than 73 times, making him the most successful owner in the meeting's history. Of those 73, one that has a special place in his heart is hardy veteran SIRE DU BERLAIS, who confounded odds of 33/1 last year to win the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle, three years after completing back-to-back successes in the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle. He's 12 now but he's back to defend his Stayers' crown on Thursday (3.30).](https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/webimg/b25lY21zOjBlZGIyMTZhLWZhYTUtNDhiMi04MzNjLTdmZTkyYWEzZDRmOTo0NGVhMTU0MC1hMDRhLTQwNjMtYWRmNi1hMjk4ZWM0MWY0MTI=.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=640)
14. Can JP's hardy veteran complete a four-timer?
The famous green and gold silks of JP McManus (pictured second from right) have been carried into the Cheltenham Festival winner's enclosure no fewer than 73 times, making him the most successful owner in the meeting's history. Of those 73, one that has a special place in his heart is hardy veteran SIRE DU BERLAIS, who confounded odds of 33/1 last year to win the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle, three years after completing back-to-back successes in the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle. He's 12 now but he's back to defend his Stayers' crown on Thursday (3.30).Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images
![With age, Nicky Henderson's SHISHKIN has looked more temperamental and unreliable. He put in a mulish display at last season's Festival and even refused to race at all at Ascot earlier this term. But he was a sparkling winner of big Festival races as a novice hurdler and novice chaser and would have won the prestigious King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day but for stumbling and unseating rider Nico De Boinville after the second last fence. He tackles Friday's Boodles Gold Cup (3.30) for the first time and Henderson is confident.](https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/webimg/b25lY21zOmU0YjIzOTcyLTc5MzMtNGE0Zi1iMzMyLTk5N2FjMDc4ZTEwYzpjNmI1MTI2ZS04ZmM4LTRjOWUtOTU0OC1hZDYyN2RkOTM4MTc=.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=640)
15. First past the post -- temperament or talent?
With age, Nicky Henderson's SHISHKIN has looked more temperamental and unreliable. He put in a mulish display at last season's Festival and even refused to race at all at Ascot earlier this term. But he was a sparkling winner of big Festival races as a novice hurdler and novice chaser and would have won the prestigious King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day but for stumbling and unseating rider Nico De Boinville after the second last fence. He tackles Friday's Boodles Gold Cup (3.30) for the first time and Henderson is confident.Photo: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images
![He's not quite scaled the legendary heights of former stablemates Tiger Roll and Cause Of Causes, but the CV of veteran DELTA WORK is the stuff of dreams. Appearances at five Festivals have yielded three wins and a Gold Cup fifth, and he was also third in the Grand National two years ago. Now the Gordon Elliott-trained 11yo is back at Prestbury Park, gunning for a third Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase on the spin on Wednesday (4.10). It promises to be one of the races of the week, with his opponents including former Grade One-winning chasers.](https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/webimg/b25lY21zOjg3ZTFmYzQ3LWY5MjgtNDZjYS05NTRlLWNmODM2ZWUyNjU0MDo2YTdjZGFhMS0wNzIwLTRhNTAtYjczNi1kNDVhMDVmZmIxNTI=.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=640)
16. Gunning for a Cross-Country Chase hat-trick
He's not quite scaled the legendary heights of former stablemates Tiger Roll and Cause Of Causes, but the CV of veteran DELTA WORK is the stuff of dreams. Appearances at five Festivals have yielded three wins and a Gold Cup fifth, and he was also third in the Grand National two years ago. Now the Gordon Elliott-trained 11yo is back at Prestbury Park, gunning for a third Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase on the spin on Wednesday (4.10). It promises to be one of the races of the week, with his opponents including former Grade One-winning chasers.Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images