Cheltenham Gold Cup as British Participation Declines

The event will be looked forward to by the entire horse racing community this March, the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2025. Nonetheless, the entries for the horses trained in Britain are the lowest so far recorded. With only five British horses listed, the Gold Cup’s field will be largely dominated by entries from Ireland and France. This marks a significant departure from previous years when British stables were more prominent in the race.

Michael Dickinson, the Cheltenham Gold Cup history-maker, expressed his disappointment with the limited British representation in the 2025 event. Dickinson noted that although fewer home-trained entries may appear disheartening, the overall quality of the field remains intact.

The five British entries for this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup include Dan Skelton’s Grey Dawning, Venetia Williams’ L’Homme Presse and Royale Pagaille, Lucinda Russell’s Ahoy Senor, and The Real Whacker from Patrick Neville’s stable. While these horses are outnumbered, they are still seen as potential challengers, with many expecting a competitive showing from them.

A third time, the Cheltenham Gold Cup in England in the year 2025, is expected to be dominated by Irish-trained horses. The horse that is dubbed as the favorite for that race is Galopin Des Champs. Trained by Willie “The Maestro” Mullins, this horse is hoping to become the third winner in a row for the Gold Cup as it will automatically place the entrant alongside legends such as Arkle and Best Mate. Currently priced at even horse racing betting odds with major bookmakers like Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power, Galopin Des Champs leads a strong field of contenders. Other horses trained by Mullins, such as Embassy Gardens, Grangeclare West, and Minella Cocooner, are also entered for the prestigious race.

In addition to Mullins’ entries, the Irish team includes Fact To File, the second favorite, along with Banbridge (winner of King George VI Chase), Corbetts Cross, Hewick, and Gerri Colombe. These horses are all set to be serious contenders in the race, continuing Ireland’s dominance of the event.

Cheltenham Gold Cup has recently observed a decreasing trend in entries trained in Britain. In 2021, 24 British-trained horses were entered in the race, but this number dived to 11 in 2023. The number decreased again last year to 20, and for the 2025 Gold Cup, only 19 horses have so far been officially entered.

In the past, the Cheltenham Gold Cup was a browbeaten race for horses trained in Britain. But recently this has changed since Irish-trained horses started coming up. Now Ireland has won eight of the last ten Gold Cups so their grip is pretty solid on it.

Irish trainers like Willie Mullins are increasingly influencing Cheltenham, another aspect to have jostled around the hitherto unchanging shape of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Indeed, Mullins is now easily reckoned as one of the Major National Hunt Racing trainers, and the way his stable performed at the Cheltenham Festival indicates this. The fruits of increasing success accrued by Irish horses in Britain, notably the Gold Cup, denote the ever-growing strength of the Irish National Hunt Racing scene.

Although the British entries for the 2025 Cheltenham Gold Cup are fewer, there is still hope for a competitive challenge. Grey Dawning, trained by Dan Skelton, is the highest-placed British horse in the horse racing betting odds at 25-1. Skelton’s horse has shown promise in earlier horse races and could surprise many by performing well in the Gold Cup. L’Homme Presse, another entry from Venetia Williams, has also gained attention as a contender, with horse racing betting odds of 33-1.

Other British entries, such as Ahoy Senor (trained by Lucinda Russell) and Royale Pagaille (also trained by Williams), are experienced horses with strong records, adding to the hope that the home team can challenge for a podium finish.

The absence of two of Britain’s most successful trainers, Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson, from the 2025 Gold Cup entries, however, is a notable gap. Both have a long history of success at Cheltenham, and their lack of representation could leave the British team with fewer high-profile contenders.

The number of British entries continues to drop for the Cheltenham Gold Cup as the inquest shoots on foreign entries into the elite echelons of British racing. The domination at Cheltenham, in particular the Gold Cup, by horses trained in Ireland has further signaled a change in the balance sheet of power that is National Hunt Racing.

The 2025 Gold Cup is nigh, and the spotlight appears to be swinging toward Galopin Des Champs, attempting to set the record for the most wins through hurdles – being three in a row. The power in this race has firmly shifted towards the Irish, but even the smaller pool of British horses has the potential to put up quite a fight.

As the days tick away toward the race on March 14th, fans and punters alike can anticipate yet another highly competitive and thrilling renewal of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. An important story of the festival will be whether the supremacy of the Irish will continue or if one of the British entries will manage to spoil the party.