Cheltenham Gold Cup runners 2026: which horses are entered for this year’s race?

The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup is a historic jumps race and the highlight of the annual Cheltenham Festival (10-13 March 2026).

The £625,000 contest boasts an illustrious role of honour, with chasing legends including Golden Miller, Arkle, Best Mate and Desert Orchid all having triumphed over the past 101 years.

So who are the Cheltenham Gold Cup runners and riders for 2026?

Cheltenham Gold Cup runners 2026

A longlist of 33 potential Cheltenham runners for the 2026 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup was released in early January. The horses will be whittled down until we have a final list of declared runners and riders two days before the big race on Friday 13 March.

Already headlining this year’s Cheltenham entries is reigning champion Inothewayurthinkin, who is trained in Ireland by Gavin Cromwell and who was ridden to victory in the 2025 Cheltenham Gold Cup by jockey Mark Walsh. Another past winner, dual champion Galopin Des Champs from the all-conquering Willie Mullins stable, is also set to line up for the three mile two and a half furlong race. His jockey in 2023 and 2024 was Paul Townend.

A total of 23 of the 33 Cheltenham Gold Cup entries represent Ireland, but some high-calibre British contenders are also among those entered. The leading hopes for Great Britain look set to be the Ben Pauling-trained The Jukebox Man (jockey: Ben Jones), who was the hero of Kempton on Boxing Day when winning the King George VI Chase for owner Harry Redknapp, and seven-year-old Jango Baie, who finished a close fourth to The Jukebox Man that day. He is trained at Seven Barrows by Nicky Henderson, who will be bidding for a third win in the Cheltenham Gold Cup after Long Run in 2011 and Bobs Worth two years later.

Dan Skelton will be hoping to etch his name on the Gold Cup for the first time with key hope Grey Dawning, already a Grade One winner with his brother Harry Skelton riding. Flying the flag for Wales will be the Welsh Grand National victor Haiti Couleurs, trained by Rebecca Curtis and ridden by Sean Bowen. Scotland could be represented in Friday’s feature race at Prestbury Park by Myretown for joint-trainers Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore.

Willie Mullins always sends over a rich assortment of Cheltenham entries and he has entered nine horses for Friday’s Blue Riband race, including two Grand National winners in I Am Maximus (who won at Aintree in 2024) and Nick Rockett, the 2025 hero.

Further down the entries, Konfusion could be a first Gold Cup runner for joint trainers Sue Smith and Joel Parkinson and there’s a sole entry from France in the form of Gold Tweet.

Odds for the Cheltenham Gold Cup entries

Heading the ante-post market for the 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup is dual victor Galopin Des Champs, who was beaten by the Noel Meade-trained Affordale Fury – also entered for this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup – in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown in December. Ten-year-old Galopin was thwarted by Inothewayurthinkin in his attempt to achieve the hat-trick in 2025; can he pull it off in 2026?

Inothewayurthinkin, Jango Baie and The Jukebox Man are also among the shortest priced horses in the Cheltenham Gold Cup betting at this stage. The longest-priced winner of the race was Norton’s Coin, who was sent off at odds of 100/1 to win in 1990.

Cheltenham Gold Cup entries 2026

Here is the current list of Cheltenham Gold Cup runners for this year’s Grade One showpiece, the most valuable jumps race in Great Britain and Ireland after the Grand National. The full Cheltenham racecards will be available from the week of 9 March when the Cheltenham Festival entries are confirmed and the final declarations revealed. The 2026 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup takes place at 4pm on Friday 13 March.

Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup runners

• Affordale Fury (trainer Noel Meade)
• Banbridge (Willie Mullins)
• Champ Kiely (Willie Mullins)
• Croke Park (Gordon Elliott)
• Envoi Allen (Henry de Bromhead)
• Fastorslow (Martin Brassil)
• Firefox (Gordon Elliott)
• Found A Fifty (Gordon Elliott)
• Gaelic Warrior (Willie Mullins)
• Galopin Des Champs (Willie Mullins)
• Gerri Colombe (Gordon Elliott)
• Gold Tweet (Gabriel Leenders)
• Grangeclare West (Willie Mullins)
• Grey Dawning (Dan Skelton)
• Haiti Couleurs (Rebecca Curtis)
• Handstands (Ben Pauling)
• Heart Wood (Henry de Bromhead)
• I Am Maximus (Willie Mullins)
• Impaire Et Passe (Willie Mullins)
• Inothewayurthinkin (Gavin Cromwell)
• Jango Baie (Nicky Henderson)
• Konfusion (Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith)
• L’Homme Presse (Venetia Williams)
• Lecky Watson (Willie Mullins)
• Monty’s Star (Henry de Bromhead)
• Myretown (Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore)
• Nick Rockett (Willie Mullins)
• Resplendent Grey (Olly Murphy)
• Spillane’s Tower (Jimmy Mangan)
• Stellar Story (Gordon Elliott)
• The Jukebox Man (Ben Pauling)
• Three Card Brag (Gordon Elliott)
• Spindleberry (Willie Mullins)

Cheltenham Gold Cup past winners

Making history as the first ever winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1924 was Red Splash, who earned his owner £685 in prize money. Golden Miller is the most successful horse in the race with five victories to his name and Paul Townend jointly holds the record as the most successful jockey with Pat Taaffe, with four Gold Cup wins apiece.

Other legendary Cheltenham racehorses to have triumphed in the feature race include Cottage Rake, Arkle, L’Escargot, Desert Orchid, Best Mate and Kauto Star. Rachael Blackmore made history in 2022 when she became the first female jockey to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup; she rode the Henry de Bromhead-trained A Plus Tard.

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