Cheltenham Festival Best Jockeys

Which jockeys have performed best over the past ten years at the Cheltenham Festival? We will have a look at the top performers in here based on wins and also in the place market.
Cheltenham Festival Best Jockeys
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Content Editor

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 33 wins
  • Rachael Blackmore with 16 wins
  • Nico de Boinville with 15 wins
  • Jack Kennedy with 11 wins
  • Mark Walsh with 10 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.

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.

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Top Ten Cheltenham Festival Jockeys by Wins

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Paul Townend164-33-69+45.19+12.95
Rachael Blackmore102-16-30+11.66-11.82
Nico de Boinville101-15-29+19.16-3.59
Jack Kennedy90-11-37+22.98+19.80
Mark Walsh99-10-29+28.37+3.90
Harry Skelton93-9-23-9.50-14.66
Mr J J Codd34-8-18+34.50+21.05
Sam Twiston-Davies127-6-13-60.00-73.09
Mr P W Mullins73-6-23-51.58-32.72
Harry Cobden94-5-23-1.50-4.23

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.

The large majority of his winners (32 of 33) have come when teaming up with Willie Mullins, eighteen of his thirty-three wins have come over hurdles but at the same time, he has ridden 100 over hurdles and only 56 over fences where he has fourteen 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.

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Rachael Blackmore

With her two winners in 2024, Rachael Blackmore has now moved ahead of Nico and up to second in the ranking for most wins at the Festival over the past ten.

She has sixteen 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 sixteen wins has come in handicap races from a total of thirty rides which was the already mentioned A Plus Tard.

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Nico de Boinville

Nico de Boinville has recorded a total of fifteen wins in the past ten festivals from one hundred and one rides and returns an LSP of +19.16 if backing all of these rides.

He has now 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 has ridden six winning outright favourites from eleven rides, three of those being on board Altior and 93% of his fifteen winners have come with a runner who won their last race before coming to the festival.

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Top Cheltenham Festival Jockeys

Here are the best Cheltenham Festival jockeys since 2005 and a graph to show how they have progressed with each year:

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The Not So Good Cheltenham Festival Jockeys Records

When it comes to blanks, Paddy Brennan leads the way without a single winner from a total of fifty-three rides which is by far the worst record on offer!

Other noticeable jockeys without winners are Sean Bowen (0-40), Barry O'Neill (0-26) and Will Biddick (0-24).

Daryl Jacob doesn't have the best of records with just one winner from ninty-two rides and Jonathan Burke (0-57), Charlie Deutsch (1-49) and Adrian Heskin (1-45) are similar.

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Top Ten Cheltenham Festival Jockeys in Handicaps

Paul Townend and Harry Skelton share the top spot in handicap with both notching up five winners apiece, although Townend's have come from fourteen fewer rides (34) compared to Skelton's (48).

Aiden Coleman is 0-40 in handicaps at the festival since 2015, Daryl Jacobs is 0-36 and Paddy Brennan has also struggled in handicaps with a 0-22 record.

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Harry Skelton48-5-14+4.50+3.14
Paul Townend34-5-9+41.75+19.68
Sam Twiston-Davies65-3-8-18.50-25.74
Mark Walsh42-3-9-1.50-6.88
J J Slevin24-3-9+3.50+5.08
David Bass22-3-5+24.00+9.99
Jack Kennedy37-2-11+1.00+6.78
Robbie Power28-2-3+0.00-8.69
Brian Hughes24-2-3-3.50-8.19
Bridget Andrews15-2-3+53.00+31.89

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.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:30 Cheltenham
Supreme Novices Hurdle
Slade Steel (IRE)
6yo - 7/2
Henry De Bromhead
Rachael Blackmore
14:10 Cheltenham
Arkle Challenge Trophy
Gaelic Warrior (GER)
6yo - 2/1
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
14:50 Cheltenham
Ultima Handicap Chase
Chianti Classico (IRE)
7yo - 6/1
Kim Bailey
David Bass
15:30 Cheltenham
Champion Hurdle
State Man (FR)
7yo - 2/5
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
16:10 Cheltenham
Close Brothers Mares Hurdle
Lossiemouth (FR)
5yo - 8/13
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
16:50 Cheltenham
Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
Lark In The Mornin (GER)
4yo - 9/1
Joseph Patrick O'Brien
J J Slevin
17:30 Cheltenham
National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup
Corbetts Cross (IRE)
7yo - 15/8
Emmet Mullins
Mr Derek O'Connor

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!

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:30 Cheltenham
Baring Bingham Novices Hurdle
Ballyburn (IRE)
6yo - 1/2
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
14:10 Cheltenham
Brown Advisory Novices Chase
Fact To File (FR)
7yo - 8/13
W P Mullins
Mark Walsh
14:50 Cheltenham
Coral Cup
Langer Dan (IRE)
8yo - 13/2
Dan Skelton
Harry Skelton
15:30 Cheltenham
Queen Mother Champion Chase
Captain Guinness (IRE)
9yo - 17/2
Henry De Bromhead
Rachael Blackmore
16:10 Cheltenham
Cross Country Chase
Delta Work (FR)
10yo - 11/10
Gordon Elliott
Keith Donoghue
16:50 Cheltenham
Johnny Henderson Grand Annual
Unexpected Party (FR)
9yo - 12/1
Dan Skelton
Harry Skelton
17:30 Cheltenham
Champion Bumper
Jasmin De Vaux (FR)
5yo - 9/2
W P Mullins
Mr P W Mullins

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.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:30 Cheltenham
Turners Novices Chase
Grey Dawning (IRE)
7yo - 5/2
Dan Skelton
Harry Skelton
14:10 Cheltenham
Pertemps Network Final
Monmiral (FR)
7yo - 25/1
Paul Nicholls
Harry Cobden
14:50 Cheltenham
Ryanair Chase
Protektorat (FR)
9yo - 17/2
Dan Skelton
Harry Skelton
15:30 Cheltenham
Stayers Hurdle
Teahupoo (FR)
7yo - 5/4
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
16:10 Cheltenham
Festival Plate
Shakem UpArry (IRE)
10yo - 8/1
Ben Pauling
Ben Jones
16:50 Cheltenham
Mares Novices Hurdle
Golden Ace (GB)
6yo - 10/1
Jeremy Scott
Lorcan Williams
17:30 Cheltenham
Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
Inothewayurthinkin (IRE)
6yo - 13/8
Gavin Cromwell
Mr Derek O'Connor

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.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:30 Cheltenham
Triumph Hurdle
Majborough (FR)
4yo - 6/1
W P Mullins
Mark Walsh
14:10 Cheltenham
County Handicap Hurdle
Absurde (FR)
6yo - 12/1
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
14:50 Cheltenham
Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
Stellar Story (IRE)
7yo - 33/1
Gordon Elliott
Sam Ewing
15:30 Cheltenham
Cheltenham Gold Cup
Galopin Des Champs (FR)
8yo - 10/11
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
16:10 Cheltenham
Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup
Sine Nomine (GB)
8yo - 8/1
Fiona Needham
Mr John Dawson
16:50 Cheltenham
Mrs Paddy Power Mares Chase
Limerick Lace (IRE)
7yo - 3/1
Gavin Cromwell
Keith Donoghue
17:30 Cheltenham
Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle
Better Days Ahead (IRE)
6yo - 5/1
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

James Banting

Tipster Competition Assistant

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Club provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Content Editor

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for jump racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful national hunt racing blogs for OLBG.

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