2026 Cheltenham Festival: One that will live in the memory - not least for the upsets

GOLDEN BOY: Paul Townend celebrates winning the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup. Pic: Tom Maher/Inpho

The 2026 Cheltenham Festival will be remembered for many reasons, not least the sheer volume of shock results.

And while Apolon De Charnie winning the JCB Triumph Hurdle, the opening race on Gold Cup day, at odds of 50-1 wasn’t as seismic as Poniros’s 100-1 win last year, it was still a huge surprise.