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.
The Irish Are Coming
With the Festival just around the corner, many thousands of Irishmen and women will be making their annual pilgrimage to the home of National Hunt racing.
Along with the thousands of pints of Guinness that will be drunk and the thousands of euros that will be wagered the formidable Irish trainers and owners will be bringing over their very best horses and will be looking to take home plenty of prize money and the prestigious honours from the best National Hunt race meeting in the world.
In this blog we are going to look at the numbers and see just how dominant they have been and in which areas that dominance has come. Remember to head over to our essential Cheltenham Free Bets page to see the latest bookmaker offers at the Cheltenham Festival.
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Ten Year Statistics
As you can see from the table below, the Irish entries have won 50% or more of the race at each of the last ten festivals, eight of those festivals they won 60% or more of the races.
The 2021 festival was a bumper year with them winning an incredible 23 of the 28 races, that was 82% of the races that year.
| Year | Bets | Wins | Win% | Races | Race% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 249 | 20 | 8.03% | 28 | 71.43% |
| 2024 | 204 | 18 | 8.82% | 27 | 66.67% |
| 2023 | 236 | 18 | 7.63% | 28 | 64.29% |
| 2022 | 223 | 18 | 8.07% | 28 | 64.29% |
| 2021 | 162 | 23 | 14.20% | 28 | 82.14% |
| 2020 | 181 | 17 | 9.39% | 27 | 62.96% |
| 2019 | 189 | 14 | 7.41% | 28 | 50.00% |
| 2018 | 150 | 17 | 11.33% | 27 | 62.96% |
| 2017 | 159 | 19 | 11.95% | 28 | 67.86% |
| 2016 | 145 | 15 | 10.34% | 28 | 53.57% |
A Handicap or Not?
This probably is not news to many but the majority of the winners do come in non-handicap races, however, do not be put off in a handicap by all means!
The Irish have won 70% of the non-handicap races at the last ten festivals, that is an impressive 126 races won from a possible 180.
They have won just over half of the handicaps but only just, from the 97 handicaps, they have won 53 of those (54.64%).
- 126-180 (75%) in Non-Handicap
- 53-97 (54.64%) in Handicaps
The Class
When it comes to classes there is one which stands out and that is the Irish entries into a Grade 2 race which include the Novices Limited Handicap Chase, Mares Novices Hurdle, Mares Novices Chase and previously the Challenge Cup.
Over the last ten festivals there have been 24 renewals of those races and the Irish have won 79% of them, that is 19 of the 24 races!
Their Grade 1 record is good too, they have won 70% of those which is 96 of the 138 races and the last five festivals have seen win rates of 86%, 71%, 71%, 86% & 77%!
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 Lookout Cheltenham, the Irish are Coming!! 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
