Cheltenham Gold Cup

CHELTENHAM, UK--Believe it or not, Willie Mullins drew a blank on day three of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, with Capodanno (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}) and Jade De Grugy (Fr) (Doctor Dino {Fr}) faring best of their trainer's 11 runners on that card when finishing fourth in their respective races. Twenty-four hours without a winner at the Festival is a long time in Willie's world, the one in which he hit the target six times across the first two days of the meeting. Thankfully for him after Thursday's 'drought', there was a...

CHELTENHAM, UK--Resplendent in bright green on St Patrick's Day, Audrey Truly clasped the Cheltenham Gold Cup as she chatted with Princess Anne while her face bore a look of disbelief. The owner could be forgiven if the enormity of the relatively smooth victory of her 7-year-old Galopin Des Champs (Fr) (Timos {Ger}) in jump racing's most prestigious race was yet to sink in.  Exactly a year ago the sleek dark brown gelding appeared to be about to back up his first Cheltenham success in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Hurdle...

Goffs' flagship National Hunt Sale, formerly known as the Goffs Land Rover Sale, will now be known as the Goffs Arkle Sale in honour of history's greatest chaser, Arkle, who was sold at Goffs. Goffs Arkle Sale this year will be held in partnership with Land Rover Defender, and the vendor of the horse that wins the renamed €100,000 Goffs Defender Bumper at the Punchestown Festival will also win an all-new Defender Hard Top. "So many household names in National Hunt racing have gone under the hammer at Goffs during...

CHELTENHAM, UK--Emotions ran high at Cheltenham on Friday as Rachael Blackmore, the most successful female National Hunt jockey of all time, continued to rewrite the history books, this time by becoming the first woman to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Her willing and sublimely talented partner was A Plus Tard (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}), who was runner-up to his stable-mate Minella Indo (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}) last year but turned the tables in emphatic fashion this time around. Tackling the defending champion for the lead over the final fence, the 8-year-old...

CHELTENHAM, UK—With a slightly surreal sense of the final day of the Cheltenham Festival providing a last hurrah for racing as know it, at least for now, Al Boum Photo (Fr) (Buck's Boum {Fr}) returned to the scene of his greatest triumph to land back-to-back runnings of the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup. He's not seen often, but when the sleek 8-year-old gelding appears at the races he seldom disappoints and his assured victory sealed a sensational day for Willie Mullins, who saddled the first four winners of the week's finale....