Last updated 12 August 2026. Dates and winners verified against the Jockey Club and official race records.
Four days in March that jump racing spends the other 361 preparing for. The Cheltenham Festival is the sport’s world championships, and for Welsh trainers, jockeys and punters it’s practically a home fixture: the M4 and A40 empty into Prestbury Park every spring.
This page keeps the essentials in one place: the 2027 dates, the Gold Cup roll of honour, and Wales’ festival story. It gets updated after every renewal.
Cheltenham Festival 2027: the dates
The festival runs from Tuesday 16 to Friday 19 March 2027. Each day carries its own championship race:
- Tuesday: Champion Day, ending with the Champion Hurdle
- Wednesday: Style Wednesday and the Queen Mother Champion Chase
- Thursday: the Stayers’ Hurdle
- Friday: Gold Cup day, with the big one due off at 4pm
Cheltenham Gold Cup winners since 2000
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Gaelic Warrior | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2025 | Inothewayurthinkin | Mark Walsh | Gavin Cromwell |
| 2024 | Galopin Des Champs | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2023 | Galopin Des Champs | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2022 | A Plus Tard | Rachael Blackmore | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2021 | Minella Indo | Jack Kennedy | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2020 | Al Boum Photo | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2019 | Al Boum Photo | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2018 | Native River | Richard Johnson | Colin Tizzard |
| 2017 | Sizing John | Robbie Power | Jessica Harrington |
| 2016 | Don Cossack | Bryan Cooper | Gordon Elliott |
| 2015 | Coneygree | Nico de Boinville | Mark Bradstock |
| 2014 | Lord Windermere | Davy Russell | Jim Culloty |
| 2013 | Bobs Worth | Barry Geraghty | Nicky Henderson |
| 2012 | Synchronised | Tony McCoy | Jonjo O’Neill |
| 2011 | Long Run | Sam Waley-Cohen | Nicky Henderson |
| 2010 | Imperial Commander | Paddy Brennan | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
| 2009 | Kauto Star | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
| 2008 | Denman | Sam Thomas | Paul Nicholls |
| 2007 | Kauto Star | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls |
| 2006 | War of Attrition | Conor O’Dwyer | Mouse Morris |
| 2005 | Kicking King | Barry Geraghty | Tom Taaffe |
| 2004 | Best Mate | Jim Culloty | Henrietta Knight |
| 2003 | Best Mate | Jim Culloty | Henrietta Knight |
| 2002 | Best Mate | Jim Culloty | Henrietta Knight |
| 2001 | Abandoned (foot-and-mouth) | – | – |
| 2000 | Looks Like Trouble | Richard Johnson | Noel Chance |
The 2001 festival never happened: foot-and-mouth disease shut racing down that spring. And the era belongs to Willie Mullins and Paul Townend, who have combined for 5 Gold Cups since 2019, including Gaelic Warrior’s win in March.
The records
Golden Miller owns the race. Five straight Gold Cups from 1932 to 1936, and he won the 1934 Grand National as well, a double nothing has matched since. Best Mate’s hat-trick (2002 to 2004) is the closest the modern era has come.
Paul Townend’s 5 wins make him the most successful jockey in the race’s history. Willie Mullins and Tom Dreaper share the trainers’ record with 5 apiece.
Wales at the festival
Start with the greatest Welsh sporting story you could invent, except nobody would dare. In 1990, Sirrell Griffiths milked his cows at Nantgaredig in Carmarthenshire, drove his own horse to Cheltenham, and watched Norton’s Coin win the Gold Cup at 100/1. It’s still the longest-priced winner the race has ever had. Griffiths held a permit and trained 3 horses.
In 2008, Welsh jockey Sam Thomas won it on Denman, bullying Kauto Star out of the title. Thomas now trains in Cardiff, and in 2021 he added a Welsh Grand National with Iwilldoit.
And the Welsh National is Cheltenham’s favourite feeder race: Burrough Hill Lad, Master Oats, Cool Ground, Synchronised and Native River all won at Chepstow before winning the Gold Cup. When a stayer wins the Welsh National well, the Gold Cup market notices by Sunday morning.
For the on-course view of the festival, read James Lovell’s column on why Cheltenham matters so much to on-course bookmakers.
Betting on the Cheltenham Festival
Festival betting is its own discipline: ante-post markets run all winter, prices move on every trial, and the difference between Tuesday’s banker and Friday’s each-way chance is a season of homework.
DragonBet prices up every festival race, ante-post through to the off. Current markets are on our horse racing odds page, and our Cheltenham Festival section carries tips and previews as the meeting approaches.
18+. Please gamble responsibly. For guidance and support visit GambleAware.
Quick answers
When is the Cheltenham Festival 2027?
Tuesday 16 to Friday 19 March 2027. The Gold Cup goes off at 4pm on the Friday.
Who won the 2026 Gold Cup?
Gaelic Warrior, for Paul Townend and Willie Mullins.
Has a Welsh horse ever won the Gold Cup?
Norton’s Coin in 1990, at 100/1, trained on a Carmarthenshire dairy farm. The longest-priced winner ever.
Sources: The Jockey Club festival schedule; official Gold Cup race records. Records correct as of 12 August 2026.
