Cheltenham 2025: Eight Festival duels to look forward to
UP THE HILL: Nicky Henderson with Constitution Hill. As far as British-based horses are concerned, there will surely be no more popular winner at this year's Festival than Constitution Hill if he can regain his Champion Hurdle crown on the opening day. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.
Up until the Dublin Racing Festival, the Cheltenham Festival opener was shaping up to be the most open Supreme in years. Salvator Mundi began 2025 as the favourite despite not having run since last May and while he got the job done in the Moscow Flyer at Punchestown on the second Sunday of the year, his performance didn’t convince everyone.
Then Kopek Des Bordes, who won almost in spite of himself at Leopardstown at Christmas, produced a visually stunning display to win the Grade One Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival and suddenly the Supreme had a red-hot favourite. He’s a seriously exciting talent but that errant jumping display at Christmas is a niggling concern, as is his temperament given he got quite worked up in the preliminaries on his return to Leopardstown.
Romeo Coolio probably lacks the raw potential possessed by Kopek Des Bordes but he’s a pretty smart operator in his own right having bounced back from a disappointing defeat in the Grade Two Royal Bond at Fairyhouse to run out an emphatic winner at Grade One level at Leopardstown at Christmas. Also in his favour is the fact he has Cheltenham experience having beaten all bar Jasmin De Vaux in last year’s Champion Bumper.
Should immaturity undermine Kopek Des Bordes, Romeo Coolio could be the chief beneficiary.
The presence of Brighterdaysahead in the line-up makes the day one feature a race to savour and if there are any chinks in the armour of the 2025 version of Constitution Hill, this high-class mare will surely expose them.
State Man may have been way below his best at Leopardstown at Christmas but his sluggish display shouldn’t take away from the awesomeness of Brighterdaysahead’s performance.
Repeating that lung-bursting effort will require a massive effort but swerving the Dublin Racing Festival should ensure she arrives at Cheltenham ready to run for her life. She’ll need to be though as Constitution Hill looked pretty close to his best when making light of a year-long absence to see off a race-fit Lossiemouth in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day.
If he was ever going to be vulnerable it should have been that day and he did need to be ridden on the run-in to finish the job. However, given the issues that plagued him over the preceding year, he was entitled to get a little tired on that occasion.
Brighterdaysahead will certainly test his constitution up that famous hill but the 2023 champion looks well placed to become only the third horse (after Comedy Of Errors and Hurricane Fly) to regain the Champion Hurdle.
The opening race on day two is shaping up to be an absolute belter, featuring as it does a top-class Irish novice against a top-class English novice.
Final Demand was impressive in winning at Limerick on his first start for Willie Mullins over the Christmas and took the step up to Grade One company in his stride at the Dublin Racing Festival, running away with the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle in the style of a seriously exciting horse.
However, similar comments apply to The New Lion. The Dan Skelton-trained six-year-old will also bring an unbeaten record to the Cotswolds and also a Grade One win to his name, having toyed with his opposition in the Challow Hurdle at Newbury in December.
Challow winners have a horrific record at the Cheltenham Festival but that strange trend wasn’t enough to stop JP McManus from snapping The New Lion up on the back of his Newbury triumph.
In Final Demand, The New Lion will face his toughest rival yet but that reality also applies the other way round. Nor is this a two-horse race. Like the top two in the market, The Yellow Clay is unbeaten this season with the last of his pre-Cheltenham wins also coming in Grade One company. This could be the race of the week.
Were this last year, the Willie Mullins-trained pair would likely have been split so the fact they’re on a collision course might be viewed as evidence that the decision to ditch the Turners Novices’ Chase run over the intermediate trip was the right call. As a result we’ll get to see if the class of Ballyburn will trump the stamina of Dancing City over three miles.
One thing we know for certain is that Ballyburn is definitely not a two-miler. His defeat to Sir Gino proved that. Stepped up in trip at the Dublin Racing Festival after that Kempton defeat, Ballyburn looked far more comfortable and his finishing effort strongly suggested a further three furlongs wouldn’t be beyond him.
Stamina certainly won’t be an issue for Dancing City, victorious in his four starts since finishing third in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at last year’s Festival.
In truth, he probably lacks the x factor possessed by Ballyburn but he’ll keep going long after most of his rivals have cried enough. Whether Ballyburn will be one of them is the key question
There’s little doubt Jonbon is the most talented and consistent two-miler chaser currently in training. Nine Grade One wins and an overall record of 17 wins from 20 starts illustrates that. The only problem for the Nicky Henderson-trained nine-year-old is all three of his defeats have come at Cheltenham, two in Festival races. The obvious conclusion? As brilliant as he undoubtedly is, Jonbon is more vulnerable at Cheltenham than at any other venue.
Unlike Jonbon, Marine Nationale has already ticked the Cheltenham box, benefitting from an inspired Michael O’Sullivan ride to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle two years ago.
And given the tragic death of the Cork jockey last month, most neutrals will be willing Marine Nationale on for what would be a deeply poignant victory in the Champion Chase. Can it happen? Potentially. Marine Nationale is winless in his last four starts but he has been gradually working his way back to something close to his best in his three runs this season. Further improvement will be needed to bag a Champion Chase but stranger things have happened, especially if this race.
Up until a month ago, it looked as though Willie Mullins wouldn’t be adding to his record 13 Champion Bumper wins at the 2025 Festival. Then Copacabana emerged on the scene, running out an impressive five-length winner of what shaped as a decent contest. That success catapulted Copacabana to the head of the market for the Champion Bumper. However, he didn’t stay there long as on February 20, just 20 days before the Champion Bumper, Gameofinches threw down the gauntlet with a seriously impressive Punchestown success. They’re both smart prospects but the 11 extra days recovery time Copacabana has had from his debut victory might just give him the edge at Cheltenham.
Irish-trained horses have won the last five renewals of the Triumph Hurdle but the market strongly suggests the prize will be staying in Britain this time. French recruit Lulamba was a hype horse even before he made his British debut for Nicky Henderson but he justified the positive vibes with a stylish success at Ascot in January. In doing so, he established himself as the horse to beat in the opening race on Gold Cup day.
However, a week later the James Owen-trained East India Dock responded to the challenge, producing a deeply impressive display to win a Grade Two on Festival Trials Day by 10 lengths.
That was East India Dock’s second dominant win at Cheltenham so he clearly ticks the track box and has more experience than his chief market rival but the Seven Barrows team are clearly very sweet on Lulamba. A fascinating clash awaits.
For this to be a genuine duel, the rain will need to stay away from the Cotswolds but should it do so King George hero Banbridge looks the one horse capable of denying Galopin Des Champs a Cheltenham Gold Cup hat-trick. That’s assuming he stays the trip and comments from Paul Townend after his Christmas success at Kempton to the effect Banbridge won’t improve for going an extra two and a half furlongs will have made worrying listening for Joseph O’Brien.
That said, the same stamina doubts were posed prior to the King George and he wasn’t found wanting in that department on St Stephen’s Day, reeling in the frontrunning Il Est Francis in seriously impressive fashion.
However, Galopin Des Champs is a truly exceptional horse and will be an incredibly tough nut to crack in his quest for immortality.
On decent ground, Banbridge has a puncher’s chance of taking him down but Galopin Des Champs is the best Irish-trained staying chaser since the peerless Arkle and it’ll require something truly special — or just plain bad luck — to thwart him.
