The last word will barely have been said at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival before thoughts begin to turn to next year’s edition of the four-day extravaganza.
It would be fair to say that this year’s meeting has not been a good one for favourite backers, with the likes of Majborough, Constitution Hill and Jonbon all tasting defeat at odds-on prices – more curious still when you consider that good-to-soft ground typically gets the best out of the best.
However, this has afforded the opportunity for new stars to emerge… ones that might go on to become major contenders in 2026, too.
So here’s a (very) early look at some intriguing value in the ante post odds for the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
Majborough (Gold Cup)
Galopin Des Champs will head off as favourite in the Cheltenham betting for the 2025 Gold Cup… and for good reason, given the imperious nature of this outstanding nine-year-old.
Those racing betting odds of 8/15 (at the time of writing) are indicative of the strength of Willie Mullins’ star, even if he did taste defeat in the John Durkan Memorial at Punchestown earlier this season. At the subsequent Irish Gold Cup, he looked ominous in victory.
But no ten-year-old has won the Gold Cup since Cool Dawn way back in 1998, so ante post punters will already be champing at the bit to take on Galopin Des Champs.
They might need some persuading that Majborough is the prime candidate, given his defeat in the Arkle, but the result did not really reflect the nature of the race.
Quite the race
Majborough matched at 1.33
L’Eau Du Sud matched 1.4
Only By Night traded at 1.22
Jango Baie matched at 329/1…. https://t.co/BNDVemCk54— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 11, 2025
Mullins’ five-year-old is still green, so it was perhaps no surprise when a jumping error badly hampered his chances of prevailing at the Festival on debut. The fact that he finished a length behind the winner, despite sprawling on his hind legs at one point, is testament to Majborough’s talents.
He stayed the three-mile trip with ease too, which suggests he – whisper it – may just be a Gold Cup horse in the making when another year older and more mature.
Kopek Des Bordes (Champion Hurdle)
The 2026 Champion Hurdle could be a fascinating renewal.
Presumably, Constitution Hill will continue hurdling and be pointed that way – despite a disappointing fall at the 2025 Festival. State Man, who was travelling so strongly when five lengths clear in the home straight before falling, is another who will likely be heading for a shot at redemption next year.
But both will have turned nine by then; an age that, historically, has been too old to compete in what is a two-mile dart. Indeed, only a single nine-year-old – the great Hurricane Fly in 2013 – has won the Champion Hurdle in the past two decades.
This race is a young man’s game, which would suggest that there’s plenty of value in Kopek Des Bordes in the ante post prices.
KOPEK DES BORDES gets favourites off to a flyer!
He wins the Michael O’Sullivan Supreme for Paul Townend and Willie Mullins.#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/5MveJbZydi
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 11, 2025
The five-year-old wasn’t fluent in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by any means, but it was clear to all just how much pace and power Mullins’ young charge has in landing the win despite a chancy round of jumping.
If that aspect of his game can be upped – and who better than Mullins to accomplish exactly that — Kopek De Bordes can join the long list of horses that have franked Supreme Novices’ success into Champion Hurdle glory in the future.
