The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious jump racing events in the world, showcasing the finest horses and most skilful jockeys, but it is the trainers who take most of the glory and the credit. Racehorse training is an art; much like an Olympic athlete needs a great coach, a racehorse needs a committed trainer to bring out the best in them.
Cheltenham Festival trainers are the cream of the crop. The winning spots are usually held by only a handful of trainers, with some names recurring year after year. Here are the leading trainers at Cheltenham Festival, from past record-breakers to familiar faces you can expect to see at this year’s event.
Willie Mullins
The Irish champion trainer has dominated at Cheltenham for years now, winning the most races at six of the last ten events. Mullins’ career began in 1988; his early experiences in the saddle saw him scoop prizes at Aintree and Cheltenham, before training took him to new heights, and he’s now claimed titles at pretty much every Irish event, most British races and several French ones too.
With over 70 festival wins to his name, Mullins has been leading trainer at Cheltenham seven times since 1997, most recently with Al Boum Photo, his golden boy who has won two Gold Cups in a row; with Mullins’ record, a hat-trick is by no means off the cards.
Martin Pipe
Martin Pipe is retired but still enjoys a celebrated status as one of Cheltenham’s finest trainers. After a slow start to his career, he eventually began an upward trajectory that began at Cheltenham with a 66/1 win in the Triumph Hurdle in 1981, and followed with two Champion Hurdle wins. Pipe also won the 1994 Grand National, and achieved 256 wins on the flat, achievements for which he was honoured with a race being named after him at Cheltenham – the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.
Nicky Henderson
Another headline act at Cheltenham, Nicky Henderson has a star-studded stable which includes Champion Chase victor Altior, and a wealth of experience behind him. The trainer began his career in 1978, and has won the British jump racing Champion Trainers title a stunning six times. His charges include the legendary See You Then, who won the Champion Hurdle three times in the ’80s, Zaynar, winner of the 2009 Triumph Hurdle, and Long Run and Bobs Worth, both winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
Henderson has trained 68 Cheltenham winners, and there will certainly be more to come this season.
Paul Nicholls
Paul Nicholls has won the Champion Trainer title 11 times in the last 14 years. His talent-packed stable has held memorable runners such as Kauto Star, Master Minded and Big Buck’s. Politologue won him his fifth Champion Chase in 2020 before the season was cut short, and he’ll be looking forward to bringing him out again, alongside promising talent like Bravemansgame and Next Destination.
Fulke Walwyn
Walwyn is a trainer whose mark is still felt at Cheltenham, though it’s been many years since he passed away in 1991. The army vet’s extensive career saw him train two Champion Hurdle winners, four Gold Cup winners and five King George VI Chases – in all, he achieved 2,000 wins and is heralded as one of the most revered trainers of all time. Walwyn’s commitment to the craft continues to inspire jockeys and trainers alike to this day.
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