Key events
Official going news from the Jockey Club.
Friday 14th March
The going for day four of The Cheltenham Festival 2025 today, Gold Cup Day, is:
Good to Soft
Action takes place on the New Course today, which was also in use yesterday (St Patrick’s Thursday). The first two days of The Festival, Champion Day and Style Wednesday, took place on the Old Course.
Jon Pullin, Clerk of the Course at Cheltenham Racecourse, said this morning: “We have had three fantastic days of racing so far. We are very much looking forward to another good one today and hoping to see Galopin Des Champs join greats of the past in winning three Cheltenham Gold Cups.
“There are seven races again today, with the first off at 1.20pm and the first six races live on ITV.
“The going for today is Good to Soft. Temperatures dipped down to -3.5C overnight, but we had covered yesterday’s racing lines, so it’s all systems go for the day ahead.”
Greg Wood
And unlike Mullins’s Al Boum Photo, who came up short as a 9-4 shot when attempting a third straight win in 2021, it is very hard to see Galopin Des Champs being beaten.
With the sole exception of his stumble three years ago, Galopin Des Champs has scarcely made a mistake in any of his previous starts at the festival, but the real secret to his dominance, the special power that sets him apart not only from the current crop of chasers but all but a handful of the greats of the past, is the raw finishing power that kicks in as he closes out a race.
Greg Wood
Cheltenham 1.20 James Owen’s East India Dock has already posted two outstanding performances for a juvenile at this track when successful at both the November and December meetings. Both wins were recorded in notably fast times and a repeat of either performance would probably be enough here, although further progress from this hugely promising four-year-old would be no great surprise either.
Preamble
Greg Wood
Good morning from Cheltenham on one of the most eagerly-awaited days of the racing year: Gold Cup day at Cheltenham, the pinnacle of the National Hunt season and this year a very rare opportunity to see a two-time winner of the race attempt to join the tiny band of immortals – Golden Miller, Cottage Rake, Arkle and Best Mate – with three Gold Cup victories to their name.
We have been here once before quite recently, as another Willie Mullins-trained chaser, Al Boum Photo, went for the three-timer just four years ago. But even with the benefit of hindsight – he finished third as the 9-4 favourite – his tilt at racing history lacked conviction. Galopin Des Champs, by contrast, will be long odds-on to get the job done this afternoon, even with the Grand National favourite, Inothewayurthinkin, in the field as a late supplementary.
He is also a festival stalwart, making his fifth visit to the meeting and looking for his fourth success (the only blip being a bizarre stumble after the last when victory seemed assured in a novice chase here three years ago).
Banbridge, the King George VI Chase winner, is another live rival, but his stamina at this extended three-and-a-quarter miles is far from assured, and Galopin Des Champs will set off at around 4-7 to secure his membership of a very elite club.
The going remains good-to-soft, the covers on the track did their job after temperatures dipped to -3.5C overnight, and the gates have opened to welcome what is certain to be the biggest crowd of a week when attendance has been a concern. When Cheltenham is packed, the customer experience is not always what it should be, but for many National Hunt fans, the chance to be here on one of those festival days that no-one will ever forget is simply too much of a draw.
You can follow all the action live as the final day of the meeting unfolds here on our live blog, and we are underway at 1.20 with the juvenile hurdling championship, the Triumph Hurdle.