Cheltenham Favourites: Who heads the markets for the Festival's feature races?

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious horse racing events in the global calendar. First held in 1911, there’s more than a century of history to reflect on, including thrilling competition, fierce rivalries, and plenty of feel-good underdog stories.

The four-day Festival for 2025 is held from Tuesday 11th to Friday 14th March. As usual, the top horses, jockeys and trainers will descend on Prestbury Park. Let's look at the Cheltenham Festival favourites for five of the five headline races throughout the week.

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Cheltenham Festival Favourites

As we enter the confirmation stage for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, here’s a breakdown of the current favourites for five of the biggest races and their latest odds (subject to change).

Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill should need no introduction to horse racing fans. Nicky Henderson’s current top hurdler, the seven-year-old thoroughbred, is widely regarded as one of the top hurdlers of all time following his victory in the 2023 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.

He’s the current favourite to repeat history and win the Unibet Champion Hurdle - a race won by the favourite in 10 of the last 14 renewals. A breakdown of the horse's recent performance can be found in the table below:

Jonbon

Another favourite from Nicky Henderson’s stable - Jonbon is a nine-year-old at 10/11 but with some serious competition from Willie Mullins. Both Gaelic Warrior and Energumene will be hot on the heels of Henderson’s chaser.

The current second favourite is Marine Nationale, who hasn’t won since his chasing debut in December 2023 but was a close 2nd behind Solness in the Dublin Chase last time. Success for him would be poignant following the passing of Michael O’Sullivan who rode him to win the Supreme in 2023.  

Jonbon is the top pick to win the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase. A breakdown of the horse's recent performance can be found in the table below:

Fact To File

Willie Mullins is no stranger to victories at Cheltenham - he’s the only trainer to amass more than 100 wins at the festival (103). Fact To File is his top entry in the Ryanair Chase, but Banbridge and Gaelic Warrior, another entry from Mullins, are both looking like strong contenders.

Fact To File, who has been beaten by Gold Cup favourite Galopin Des Champs on his previous two starts, is expected to drop back in trip for this contest whereas stablemate Gaelic Warrior, who won the Arkle over 2 miles at the Festival last season, could step up in trip having been beaten on his previous three starts since that victory. 

Fact To File is the narrow favourite to win the Ryanair Chase. A breakdown of the horse's recent performance is listed in the table below:

Teahupoo

Gordon Elliott's Teahupoo is the trainer's best current hurdler with an impressive record both in Ireland and previously at Cheltenham. The eight-year-old looks to repeat last year's result with a first-place finish in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle.

Teahupoo has been kept fresh since his runner-up effort in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle on his reappearance, with Elliott choosing to stick to the same campaign again. 

Teahupoo is the current favourite to win the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle. A breakdown of the horse's recent performance can be found in the table below:

Galopin Des Champs

Galopin Des Champs could join the likes of Cottage Rake, Arkle and Best Mate by winning a third consecutive Gold Cup (4:00). 

It took Willie Mullins until 2019 to win this race as a trainer (he had the runner-up on five occasions prior) but he has now won it for four out of the previous six years with Henry De Bromhead winning it in 2021 and 2022. 

It is a race that favourites have a good record in with four of the previous five renewals being won by the market leader. Interestingly, the only defeat for a favourite in the past five seasons was Al Boum Photo when bidding for a hat-trick in 2021 when he finished 3rd. 

Galopin Des Champs is the overwhelming favourite to win the Boodles Gold Cup. His last five races are shown in the table below: