Key events
Greg Wood’s selections for Thursday, with full previews of each race to follow.
While the Gold Cup on Friday revolves around the odds-on Galopin Des Champs and his bid for a third consecutive success, the Ryanair Chase over two and a half miles on Thursday is much more open, with live contenders from Britain, Ireland and France, and the prospect of seeing the bold front‑runner Il Est Francais tackling Cheltenham for the first time, with top-class opponents including Fact To File and Protektorat in hot pursuit, is one to savour.
Il Est Francais (3.20) was a clear leader for much of the way in the King George VI Chase at Kempton at Christmas before Banbridge reeled him in on the run to the last, and his devastating front-running success in the Kauto Star Novices Chase at the same meeting in 2023 was one of the best performances by a novice in recent years.
The fact that his best form outside France has come at a flat track is a slight concern, but the drop back on Thursday to an intermediate trip on decent ground should suit and Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm’s seven-year-old has a big chance to become only the second French‑trained winner at the festival meeting since 2005.
Further news, via PA Media: Gordon Elliott has issued a positive update on Galvin, who was taken away in a horse ambulance for assessment after being pulled up in the Cross Country Chase. Elliott said on ITV’s Opening Show: “Galvin had a haematomma on his knee but he was x-rayed and everything was good. He’s on his way home now.”
Weather report: sunny spells expected between 12pm and 5pm today’s conditions should be ideal.
Going news: good to soft ground, no longer soft in places. A dry night in Cheltenham, in one sense at least.
Some news ahead of the third day. Langer Dan is out of the feature race, the Stayers’ Hurdle. Dan Skelton took to X to announce the sad news the Cheltenham specialist will be out.
Unfortunately it’s not great news for Langer Dan this morning,” said Skelton on X. “He had a slightly dirty nose and we’ve had the vet have a look at him. We did a tracheal wash and there’s a bit of mucus and it was too much.
I’ve made him a non-runner which is very disappointing. He’s been a horse who has turned up there every year since he was a four-year-old. I’m absolutely gutted for Colm [Donlon] who owns him.
We always trust him to come alive at this time of year. He will, however, go to Aintree with a bit of luck. It shouldn’t take long to clear up, it’s just bad timing. These things happen and I’m sure he’ll be cheered on in the Aintree Hurdle, one of the great races of the meeting.
Preamble
Greg Wood
Good morning from Cheltenham on day three of the 2025 festival meeting – effectively the day that was added to the schedule 20 years ago to expand it from three to four. It still feels a little uncertain of itself, with two Grade Ones in the middle of the card rather than a standout feature, but one or other of the Ryanair Chase or the Stayers’ Hurdle generally throws up a decent yarn, and sometimes – as was the case on a memorable afternoon in 2019 – it is both.
This year, perhaps – it is always risky to be too dogmatic at Cheltenham – it will be the Ryanair, which is a vanishingly rare meeting of top-class chasers trained in the three major jumping nations. The Irish team is led by Fact To File, who was quoted at fairly short odds for the Gold Cup after winning the three-mile novice here last year but is leaving that to his stable companion, Galopin Des Champs. The British challenge is headed by Protektorat, last year’s winner, while France fields the hugely exciting Il Est Francais.
He is, admittedly, trained in France by an Englishman and a Swede (Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm) but having had just a single winner at this meeting since 2005, the French will celebrate long and hard all the same if the front-running Il Est Francais can stamp his authority on Cheltenham at the first attempt. He announced himself as a major talent with a devastating display in the Grade One novice at Kempton’s Boxing Day meeting in 2023, and put up a similarly spectacular display for much of the way in the King George VI Chase at Christmas. Something similar over this very different course this afternoon will be quite the sight to see.
It is a bright, clear morning in the west country, with a chill in the air but no sign of any of yesterday’s snow as the action switches to the New Course for the final two days of the meeting.
The going is good-to-soft (from good-to-soft, soft in places), while the news from the weighing room is that Jack Kennedy, Gordon Elliott’s number one, will have to pass the doctor to ride today after slightly aggravating the leg injury that ruled him out of much of the earlier part of the season. Since Sam Ewing, who had been filling very successfully for Kennedy earlier in the year, is also ruled out today, it could be a real headache for Elliott.
My picks for the afternoon – full disclosure: currently showing a slight loss of £2.18 to level stakes – are here, and you can get the latest news on Kennedy, his potential replacements and much, much more here on the blog as the day unfolds.