Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
Best Jockeys at the Cheltenham Festival
Which jockeys have performed best over the past ten years at the Cheltenham Festival?
Top Five Cheltenham Jockeys
- Paul Townend with 34 wins
- Rachael Blackmore with 18 wins
- Nico de Boinville with 15 wins
- Mark Walsh with 14 wins
- Jack Kennedy with 11 wins
Carry on below as we will have a look at the top performers here based on wins and also in the place market.
Which jockeys are worth following? and which are best left alone? Also, see what our tipsters are tipping with their Cheltenham tips.
Head over to our essential Cheltenham Free Bets page to see the latest bookmaker offers at the Cheltenham Festival.
It is also worth keeping an eye on these jockeys in the build-up to Cheltenham, see which of them are hitting form and producing winners and see if the OLBG racing tipsters are backing these in the build-up on the main Horse Racing Tips page.
Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2025
Top Ten Cheltenham Festival Jockeys by Wins
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Townend | 166-34-70 | +12.53 | -9.97 |
| Rachael Blackmore | 115-18-35 | +24.66 | -2.82 |
| Nico de Boinville | 107-15-33 | +11.16 | -6.38 |
| Mark Walsh | 113-14-34 | +37.37 | +6.71 |
| Jack Kennedy | 107-11-42 | +5.98 | +10.80 |
| Harry Skelton | 98-10-27 | -10.50 | -10.72 |
| Harry Cobden | 107-6-24 | -6.50 | -11.85 |
| Mr P W Mullins | 78-6-24 | -56.58 | -36.72 |
| Keith Donoghue | 44-6-17 | -18.65 | -6.65 |
| Sam Twiston-Davies | 121-4-12 | -69.50 | -67.82 |
Paul Townend
Five winners in 2020 for Paul Townend was his best return until he matched that number in both 2022 and 2023 and then in 2024 had his best festival to date landing six winners from just fifteen rides, which was a 40% strike rate.
All 34 of his winners have come when teaming up with Willie Mullins, twenty of his thirty-four wins have come over hurdles but at the same time, he has ridden 101 over hurdles and only 57 over fences where he has thirteen wins.
Townend rode back-to-back Cheltenham Gold Cup winners in the saddle of Al Boum Photo in both 2019 & 2020 and returned in 2021 with that same runner looking to match the great Pat Taffe, the only jockey in history to win the race for three consecutive years and that was with the legendary Arkle.
However, on his third attempt, Townend could only manage a third-place finish and in 2022 finished sixth on that same runner, however, he picked up his third Gold Cup success with Galopin Des Champs in 2023 and then produced another back-to-back success and his fourth with the same runner winning in 2024 which made him the joint-most winning jockey in the race along with Pat Taaffe.
Rachael Blackmore
With her two winners in 2025, Rachael Blackmore has retained her second spot in the table having moved ahead of Nico a year earlier for most wins at the Festival over the past ten.
She has eighteen wins, the first of which came in 2019 with A Plus Tard when winning the then-named Close Brothers Novices Handicap Chase, a race which has since been dropped from the festival, this runner gave her Gold Cup success in 2022 becoming the first female jockey to win the race.
All bar two of her wins have come for Henry De Bromhead, the other two were for Willie Mullins. Only one of her eighteen wins has come in handicap races from a total of thirty-four rides which was the already mentioned A Plus Tard.
Nico de Boinville
Nico de Boinville has recorded a total of fifteen wins in the past ten festivals from one hundred and seven rides and returns an LSP of +11.16 if backing all of these rides.
He slipped down to third in the jockey rankings having dropped below Rachael Blackmore after a blank in 2024, the 2019 festival was his best return at the festival with three winners, he only has 1 winner from the past two festivals.
He has ridden six winning outright favourites from fourteen rides, three of those being on board Altior and 87% of his fifteen winners have come with a runner who won their last race before coming to the festival.
Top Cheltenham Festival Jockeys
Here are the best Cheltenham Festival jockeys since 2006 and a graph to show how they have progressed with each year:
The Not So Good Cheltenham Festival Jockeys Records
When it comes to blanks, Sean Bowen leads the way without a single winner from a total of forty-seven rides which is by far the worst record on offer!
Other noticeable jockeys without winners are Tom Bellamy (0-25), Barry O'Neill (0-25) and David Noonan (0-21).
Jonathan Burke doesn't have the best of records with just one winner from fifty-eight rides and Charlie Deutsch (1-57) and Tom Cannon (1-40) are similar.
Top Ten Cheltenham Festival Jockeys in Handicaps
Harry Skelton sits in the top spot in handicap having notched up five winners, those have come from a total of forty-nine rides and his mounts have returned an LSP of +3.50.
Aiden Coleman is 0-32 in handicaps at the festival since 2016, Charlie Deutsch is 0-31 and Jonathan Burke has also struggled in handicaps with a 0-27 record.
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Skelton | 49-5-16 | +3.50 | +5.58 |
| Mark Walsh | 46-4-10 | +4.00 | -4.57 |
| Paul Townend | 32-4-8 | +9.75 | +0.05 |
| J J Slevin | 29-3-10 | -1.50 | +1.71 |
| Brian Hughes | 21-3-4 | +25.50 | +11.44 |
| Danny Gilligan | 18-3-4 | +2.00 | -2.12 |
| Sam Twiston-Davies | 64-2-8 | -27.50 | -29.37 |
| Harry Cobden | 49-2-11 | -15.00 | -5.60 |
| Jack Kennedy | 43-2-13 | -5.00 | +6.41 |
| Jonjo ONeill Jr | 29-2-4 | -19.00 | -19.80 |
Schedule for Tuesday at the Cheltenham Festival
Prepare for the ROAR of the Cheltenham Festival on the opening day when the tape goes up for the Supreme Novices Hurdle, the feature on Tuesday is the Champion Hurdle.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:20 Cheltenham Supreme Novices Hurdle | Kopek Des Bordes (FR) 5yo - 4/6 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| 14:00 Cheltenham Arkle Challenge Trophy | Jango Baie (FR) 6yo - 5/1 | Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville |
| 14:40 Cheltenham Ultima Handicap Chase | Myretown (IRE) 8yo - 13/2 | Lucinda Russell Patrick Wadge |
| 15:20 Cheltenham Close Brothers Mares Hurdle | Lossiemouth (FR) 6yo - 4/6 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| 16:00 Cheltenham Champion Hurdle | Golden Ace (GB) 7yo - 25/1 | Jeremy Scott Lorcan Williams |
| 16:40 Cheltenham Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle | Puturhandstogether (IRE) 4yo - 17/2 | Joseph Patrick O'Brien Mark Walsh |
| 17:20 Cheltenham National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup | Haiti Couleurs (FR) 8yo - 7/2 | Rebecca Curtis Ben Jones |
Schedule for Wednesday at the Cheltenham Festival
The dust has settled on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival and now on to day two. The feature on the second day is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. We also have the cross country scheduled on Wednesday, a race like Marmite, some love it and some don't!
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:20 Cheltenham Turners Novices Hurdle | The New Lion (GB) 6yo - 3/1 | Dan Skelton Harry Skelton |
| 14:00 Cheltenham Brown Advisory Novices Chase | Lecky Watson (IRE) 7yo - 20/1 | W P Mullins Sean O'Keeffe |
| 14:40 Cheltenham Coral Cup | Jimmy Du Seuil (FR) 6yo - 16/1 | W P Mullins Danny Mullins |
| 15:20 Cheltenham Cross Country Chase | Stumptown (IRE) 8yo - 5/2 | Gavin Cromwell Keith Donoghue |
| 16:00 Cheltenham Queen Mother Champion Chase | Marine Nationale (IRE) 8yo - 5/1 | Barry Connell Sean Flanagan |
| 16:40 Cheltenham Johnny Henderson Grand Annual | Jazzy Matty (FR) 6yo - 15/2 | Cian Collins Danny Gilligan |
| 17:20 Cheltenham Champion Bumper | Bambino Fever (IRE) 5yo - 4/1 | W P Mullins Miss J Townend |
Schedule for Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival
Halfway through the festival and onto day three where the Stayers Hurdle is the feature race. A hurdle race to test the stamina and see how can last best up the Cheltenham hill.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:20 Cheltenham Mares Novices Hurdle | Air Of Entitlement (IRE) 6yo - 16/1 | Henry De Bromhead Rachael Blackmore |
| 14:00 Cheltenham Novices Limited Handicap Chase | Caldwell Potter (FR) 7yo - 7/1 | Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden |
| 14:40 Cheltenham Pertemps Network Final | Doddiethegreat (IRE) 9yo - 25/1 | Nicky Henderson Brian Hughes |
| 15:20 Cheltenham Ryanair Chase | Fact To File (FR) 8yo - 6/4 | W P Mullins Mark Walsh |
| 16:00 Cheltenham Stayers Hurdle | Bob Olinger (IRE) 10yo - 8/1 | Henry De Bromhead Rachael Blackmore |
| 16:40 Cheltenham Festival Plate | Jagwar (FR) 6yo - 3/1 | Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero Jonjo O'Neill Jr |
| 17:20 Cheltenham Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup | Daily Present (IRE) 8yo - 12/1 | Paul Nolan Mr B T Stone |
Schedule for Friday at the Cheltenham Festival
The final day of the festival and feature race that we have all been waiting for, the Cheltenham Gold Cup in which the Irish have been fairly dominant in recent years.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:20 Cheltenham Triumph Hurdle | Poniros (GB) 4yo - 100/1 | W P Mullins Jonjo O'Neill Jr |
| 14:00 Cheltenham County Handicap Hurdle | Kargese (FR) 5yo - 3/1 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| 14:40 Cheltenham Mrs Paddy Power Mares Chase | Dinoblue (FR) 8yo - 6/4 | W P Mullins Mark Walsh |
| 15:20 Cheltenham Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle | Jasmin De Vaux (FR) 6yo - 6/1 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| 16:00 Cheltenham Cheltenham Gold Cup | Inothewayurthinkin (IRE) 7yo - 15/2 | Gavin Cromwell Mark Walsh |
| 16:40 Cheltenham Festival Hunters Chase | Wonderwall (IRE) 9yo - 28/1 | S Curling Mr R James |
| 17:20 Cheltenham Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle | Wodhooh (FR) 5yo - 9/2 | Gordon Elliott Danny Gilligan |
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Best Jockeys at the Cheltenham Festival are at hand, Andy and James. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for National Hunt Racing.
James Banting
Tipster Competition Assistant
Andy Powell
Content Editor
