Nicky Henderson Horses at Cheltenham Festival

British horse racing trainer Nicky Henderson is a name synonymous with the Cheltenham Festival. He has secured 75 victories during his career at the event, placing him behind just Willie Mullins on the all-time wins leaderboard.

Henderson is responsible for a long list of incredible racehorses that have given us top headlines throughout the festival's history. Sprinter Sacre, Altior, Long Run, See You Then, Long Shot, and, most recently, Constitution Hill are all testaments to Henderson’s world-class training.

This article introduces Nicky Henderson, his most famous horses throughout his career and his track record at the Cheltenham Festival. We’ll also list all horses trained by Nicky Henderson competing at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival and their current odds and form.

Find out everything you need to know about Nicky Henderson for the 2026 Cheltenham Festival below.

An Introduction to Nicky Henderson and His Horses

Accruing 75 festival winners throughout his career (starting in 1978), Henderson is second only to Willie Mullins (113) in total victories at the Cheltenham Festival.

Highlights include securing the Champion Hurdle thrice in a row (1985-1987) with See You Then and the Gold Cup with Long Run (2011), Bobs Worth (2013). Henderson also won the Queen Mother Champion Chase, topping the podium a total of six times, including twice with both Sprinter Sacre (2013, 2016) and Altior (2018, 2019).

It may come as a surprise to learn that although Henderson has won almost every race in the country, he has not yet secured a win in the Grand National. Despite this, his reputation at the prestigious Cheltenham Festival, combined with a multitude of wins in England and Ireland, more than compensates.

Nicky Henderson at Cheltenham Festival: The Key Highlights

Henderson’s Cheltenham career started in 1985, securing three wins at the Festival. The Triumph Hurdle was won by First Bout, and The Tsarevich won the Plate Handicap Chase, but it’s the Champion Hurdle that turned the most heads.

See You Then, the English-bred racehorse, came home first not just once but a total of three years in a row, making him one of only five horses in history to achieve this feat. It’s See You Then that kickstarted Henderson’s career at the Cheltenham Festival.

Since then, Henderson has totalled a staggering 75 wins at the festival with a long list of impressive racehorses. A breakdown of this impressive feat is listed below:

1985

• Champion Hurdle – See You Then
• Triumph Hurdle – First Bout
• Plate Handicap Chase – The Tsarevich

1986

• Champion Hurdle – See You Then
• Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – River Ceiriog
• Plate Handicap Chase – The Tsarevich

1987

• Champion Hurdle – See You Then
• Triumph Hurdle – Alone Success

1989

• Stayers’ Hurdle – Rustle

1990

• Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup – Master Bob
• Cathcart Challenge Cup – Brown Windsor

1991

• Arkle Chase – Remittance Man

1992

• Queen Mother Champion Chase – Remittance Man
• Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Flown

1993

• Arkle Chase – Travado
• County Handicap Hurdle – Thumbs Up

1994

• Cathcart Challenge Cup – Raymylette

1997

• County Handicap Hurdle – Barna Boy

1999

• Triumph Hurdle – Katarino
• Cathcart Challenge Cup – Stormyfairweather

2000

• Stayers’ Hurdle – Bacchanal
• Arkle Chase – Tiutchev
• Festival Trophy Handicap Chase – Marlborough
• Cathcart Challenge Cup – Stormyfairweather

2002

• Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup – The Bushkeeper

2005

• RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase – Trabolgan
• Plate Handicap Chase – Liberthine
• Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup – Juveigneur

2006

• Ryanair Chase – Fondmort
• Plate Handicap Chase – Non So
• Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase – Greenhope

2009

• Champion Hurdle – Punjabi
• Triumph Hurdle – Zaynar
• Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – Andytown

2010

• Champion Hurdle – Binocular
• Triumph Hurdle – Soldatino
• Coral Cup – Spirit River

2011

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Long Run
• Spa Novices’ Hurdle – Bobs Worth

2012

• Queen Mother Champion Chase – Finian’s Rainbow
• Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle – Simonsig
• Arkle Chase – Sprinter Sacre
• RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase – Bobs Worth
• Ryanair Chase – Riverside Theatre
• Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle – Une Artiste
• Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase – Bellvano

2013

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Bobs Worth
• Queen Mother Champion Chase – Sprinter Sacre
• Arkle Chase – Simonsig
• Centenary Novices’ Handicap Chase – Rajdhani Express

2014

• Coral Cup – Whisper

2015

• Triumph Hurdle – Peace And Co
• Pertemps Final – Call The Cops

2016

• Queen Mother Champion Chase – Sprinter Sacre
• Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Altior

2017

• Champion Hurdle – Buveur d’Air
• Arkle Chase – Altior
• RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase – Might Bite

2018

• Champion Hurdle – Buveur d’Air
• Queen Mother Champion Chase – Altior

2019

• Queen Mother Champion Chase – Altior
• Triumph Hurdle – Pentland Hills
• Festival Trophy Handicap Chase – Beware The Bear
• Coral Cup – William Henry

2020

• Champion Hurdle – Epatante
• Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Altior
• RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase – Champ
• Coral Cup – Dame De Compagnie

2021

• Arkle Chase – Shishkin
• Golden Miller Novices’ Chase – Chantry House

2022

• Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Constitution Hill
• David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle – Marie’s Rock

2023

• Champion Hurdle – Constitution Hill

2025

• Pertemps Handicap Hurdle – Doddiethegreat
• Arkle Novices Chase – Jango Baie

Horses Trained by Nicky Henderson Competing at Cheltenham Festival

Henderson has confirmed his entries for Cheltenham Festival 2026, however please note these are subject to change.

Day 1: Champion Day - Tuesday, 10th March 2026

Champion Day sees Henderson have 5 entries across the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Champion Hurdle, with Constitution Hill now ruled out of the race.

A full breakdown of Henderson’s entries for day 1 in 2026 can be found in the table below:

Day 2: Style Wednesday - Wednesday, 11th March 2026

Day 2 is set to be a huge day for Henderson with entries into The Turner's Novices' Hurdle, the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase and the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase. Jonbon at 20/1 in the Champion Chase is certainly one to watch on Style Wednesday.

A full breakdown of Henderson’s entries as it stands for day 2 can be found in the table below:

Day 3: St. Patrick’s Thursday - Thursday, 12th March 2026

Day 3 at the festival sees Henderson focus on the Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle, the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle and Ryanair Chase.

A full breakdown of Henderson’s entries for day 3 as it stands can be found in the table below:

Day 4: Gold Cup Day - Friday, 13th March 2026

Henderson is set to make seven entries on the fourth and final day of the 2025 festival, with four horses in the JCB Triumph Hurdle, one in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle and Jango Baie in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, who is currently the second favourite at 11/2.

A full breakdown of Henderson’s entries for day 4 as it stands can be found in the table below:

Notable Horses from Nicky Henderson's History

Henderson’s history is full of special horses achieving special feats. From the inaugural Cheltenham wins with See You Then to Gold Cup winners Long Run and Bobs Worth.

See You Then

An English-bred racehorse foaled in 1980, See You Then is most famous for winning the Champion Hurdle in 1985, 1986, and 1987.

The victory in 1985 was somewhat of a surprise. The favourite, Browne's Gazette, had whipped around at the start, losing valuable lengths to the ultimate victor. The following years, in 1986 and 1987, were less of a shock. See You Then cemented Henderson’s early career as a top trainer.

Sprinter Sacre

Sprinter Sacre is one of Henderson’s greatest-ever horses - ranking third on the Timeform all-time steeplechase rating (192), behind only Arkle (212) and Flyingbolt (210).

He won the 2013 Queen Mother Champion Chase before an irregular heartbeat pulled the brakes on his racing career in the following season. However, in 2016, Sprinter Sacre was entered into his third Queen Mother Champion Chase, starting at 5/1 behind favourite Un de Sceaux.

"I will just never, ever forget it," Henderson later discussed. "It was just this haze of noise, and the crowd were unbelievable – I don't think we'll see a horse get a reception like that for a long time."

Constitution Hill

Widely regarded as one of the best hurdles of all time, Constitution Hill was initially trained by Ewing, beginning his racing career in amateur point-to-point races. He was purchased by Nicky Henderson, on behalf of Michael Buckley, in 2021 for £120,000. Today, Constitution Hill has earned more than £800,000 in prize money and a timeform rating of 177.

In 2022, ridden by Nico de Boinville, Constitution Hill won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle as the joint favourite (9/4). He then went on to win the Champion Hurdle in 2023, again ridden by Nico de Boinville.

Nicky Henderson’s Performance at Cheltenham Festival

With 75 wins at the Cheltenham Festival, Henderson is second only to Willie Mullins in the all-time list.

Henderson’s Cheltenham career (not exclusive to the Festival) over the last five years can be found in the table below:

Of the 1888 runs, Henderson’s horses won 21% of the time, whereas they placed 2nd to 4th 658 times or 34.9% of the time. In the current season, Henderson’s record is as follows:

Nicky Henderson's Cheltenham Festival 2026 Prospects

The favourite horses from Henderson’s stable to look out for in the headline events from the Cheltenham Festival are Jango Baie, Lulamba, and Jonbon.

Jango Baie

Jango Baie is definitely one to keep an eye on heading into the 2026 festival and will arrive in excellent form having won two of his last five races. The 6-year-old is currently the second favourite at 11/2 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

You can see Jango Baie's last five races in the table below:

Lulamba

Lulamba is a 5-year-old Bay Gelding, and is the current favourite for the Arkle on day one of the Cheltenham Festival.

Lulamba narrowly missed out on victory in the 2025 Triumph Hurdle after missing out to the 100/1 shot, Poniros. However, in 2026, Henderson has targeted a different race with the Arkle, for which he is the betting favourite to win. He will likely be up against Kopek Des Bordes for the win.

A breakdown of the Lulamba's recent performance is listed in the table below:

Jonbon

Jonbon is one of Henderson’s top horses, and will be keen to make amends for his 2nd place in the 2025 Champion Steeple Chase, where he made an early mistake which gave him too much to do late in the race.

The 10-year-old is in fine form heading into the festival having won of his last five races along with three second-placed finishes. A breakdown of Jonbon's recent performance is listed in the table below:

Nicky Henderson at Cheltenham Festival 2012

Henderson’s impressive career at the Cheltenham Festival peaked in 2012 with the magnificent seven - seven winners throughout the festival.

• Queen Mother Champion Chase – Finian’s Rainbow (4/1)
• Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle – Simonsig (2/1)
• Arkle Chase – Sprinter Sacre (8/11)
• RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase – Bobs Worth (9/2)
• Ryanair Chase – Riverside Theatre (7/2)
• Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle – Une Artiste (40/1)
• Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase – Bellvano (20/1)

The final race of the week - the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase, named after the trainer’s late father, was the cherry on top with Bellvano’s win. Henderson stated: "It's been an amazing week, and it's finished with an emotional day."

Popular Cheltenham Trainers and Owners

Here are a selection of the biggest trainers and owners at Cheltenham Festival 2025:

• Willie Mullins
• Paul Nicholls
• Harry Redknapp
• Sir Alex Ferguson