How many winners will Gordon Elliott land at Cheltenham?

Mar 4, 2026 - 09:00

Gordon Elliott returns to the Cheltenham Festival as the fourth most successful trainer in the meeting’s history – and determined to remind everyone of it.

The County Meath-based handler has saddled 41 winners at Prestbury Park, an impressive tally given those ahead of him – Willie Mullins (113), Nicky Henderson (75) and Paul Nicholls (50) – all sent out their first Festival winner more than a decade before Elliott struck for the first time.

That breakthrough came in 2011 when Chicago Grey landed the National Hunt Chase, with Carlito Brigante also scoring in the Coral Cup. Since then, winning at Cheltenham has become a habit.

Elliott was crowned Leading Trainer in both 2017 and 2018, firing in seven and eight winners respectively during a golden spell that saw him go toe-to-toe with Mullins and come out on top.

His impressive roll of honour includes Grand National hero Tiger Roll – a five-time Cheltenham Festival winner – 2016 Gold Cup victor Don Cossack and three-time Festival hero Sire Du Berlais.

But last year proved a lean one by his standards.

Elliott and his team were forced to wait until the final race of the meeting for Wodhooh to strike in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – his sole winner of the week.

A rebuild was required. And that rebuild now appears complete. Having finished second to Mullins in the Irish trainers’ championship in each of the last 11 seasons, Elliott currently holds a €470,000 lead in the race to be crowned Ireland’s champion trainer.

He is the 8/1 second favourite to claim the Leading Trainer title at Cheltenham this year – and that could represent value, given Elliott believes this is his strongest squad since the 2017-18 era.

“We’re probably just getting back to where we were in 2017,” Elliott said. “It took us a long time to rebuild, but that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

Teahupoo heads the market to regain the Stayers’ Hurdle crown he won in 2024 and looks the yard’s leading hope for a Grade 1 success. Wodhooh could return to the scene of last year’s victory in the Mares’ Hurdle, while Brighterdaysahead holds solid claims in an open Champion Hurdle.

Gordon Elliott Predicted winners for the Cheltenham Festival

Champion Day (Tuesday, March 10)

Champion Hurdle (16:00) – BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD at 7/2 with bet365

Ladies Day (Wednesday, March 11)

Turner’s Novices’ Hurdle (13:20) – SKYLIGHT HUSTLE at 6/1 with Sky Bet
Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (15:20) – FAVORI DE CHAMPDOU at 3/1 with Ladbrokes

St. Patrick’s Thursday (Thursday, March 12)

Mares Hurdle (14:40) – WODHOOH at 11/10 with bet365
Stayers’ Hurdle (15:20) – TEAHUPOO at 2/1 with 247bet

As you can see above, I’m predicting Gordon Elliott returns with a bang this year with five winners across the 28-race Festival.

Five winners would represent his biggest return since 2020, when he managed seven successes over the four days. That may not be enough to dethrone Mullins, but it would mark significant progress on last year’s solitary victory and support Elliott’s belief that his yard is back to the levels of those glory years.

Gordon Elliott Cheltenham Festival Winners

Year	Race	Horse
2011	National Hunt Chase	Chicago Grey
2011	Coral Cup	Carlito Brigante
2013	Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle	Flaxen Flare
2014	Triumph Hurdle	Tiger Roll
2015	National Hunt Chase	Cause of Causes
2016	Cheltenham Gold Cup	Don Cossack
2016	Coral Cup	Diamond King
2016	Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup	Cause of Causes
2017	Champion Bumper	Fayonagh
2017	Mares’ Hurdle	Apples Jade
2017	Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase	Cause of Causes
2017	Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle	Champagne Classic
2017	National Hunt Chase	Tiger Roll
2017	Supreme Novices’ Hurdle	Labaik
2018	Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle	Samcro
2018	Plate Handicap Chase	The Storyteller
2018	Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle	Veneer of Charm
2018	Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase	Tiger Roll
2018	Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle	Blow By Blow
2018	Pertemps Final	Delta Work
2018	Triumph Hurdle	Farclas
2018	Golden Miller Novices’ Chase	Shattered Love
2019	Champion Bumper	Envoi Allen
2019	Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase	Tiger Roll
2019	Pertemps Final	Sire Du Berlais
2020	Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle	Envoi Allen
2020	Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle	Aramax
2020	Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup	Milan Native
2020	National Hunt Chase	Ravenhill
2020	Pertemps Final	Sire Du Berlais
2020	Golden Miller Novices’ Chase	Samcro
2020	Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase	Chosen Mate
2022	Coral Cup	Commander of Fleet
2022	Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase	Delta Work
2023	Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle	Jazzy Matty
2023	Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase	Delta Work
2023	Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle	Sire Du Berlais
2024	Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle	Teahupoo
2024	Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle	Stellar Story
2024	Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle	Better Days Ahead
2025	Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle	Wodhooh

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About the author

Nathan Hill

Nathan Hill is an experienced sports writer who obsessively follows football – both the round ball and American kind – as well as range of other sports including F1, basketball, darts and snooker.

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