Cheltenham Festival 2021: Who will be top trainer?

The Cheltenham Festival is always a marquee event for punters, jockeys and trainers alike. Put simply, it’s the best against the best – the crème de la crème of racing.

Training a Cheltenham winner is one of the very pinnacles of anyone’s career, and as all comers prepare for the Greatest Show on Turf, there’s one big prize in the trainers’ crosshairs: the Leading Trainer Award.

Who is favourite to be this year’s top trainer? Where is the value? Could there be a surprise on the books? Let’s dive into the betting market…

Cheltenham Top Trainer favourite

Leading the market is serial winner Willie Mullins, priced at an incredibly short 2/9. The Irishman has won the Leading Trainer Award in six of the last eight years, and looks set to scoop up more silverware this time around.

The marquee horse in Mullins’ stable is perhaps Al Boum Photo, who is gunning for a first Gold Cup hat-trick in almost 20 years.

Highly-fancied Monkfish, 4/6 favourite in the Brown Advisory is also trained by Mullins, as is Champion Chase favourite Chacun Pour Soi.

With such deep reserves of exceptional racehorses, it’s no surprise that Mullins is odds-on favourite to emerge victorious once again.

The man most likely to end his run of dominance is Henry de Bromhead, who is second favourite, priced at 8/1.

The recent arrival of Envoi Allen, the odds-on favourite for the March Novices’ hurdle, has certainly been a welcome addition to the de Bromhead yard, while Honeysuckle remains favourite for the Champion Hurdle.

Another horse to keep an eye on is Bob Olinger, who is the 5/2 favourite to win the Ballymore, and could further boost de Bromhead’s chances of being this year’s Top Trainer.

Who are the outsiders?

If you don’t fancy Mullins or de Bromhead, Nicky Henderson and Denise Foster can be backed at 10/1 and 12/1 respectively.

The superstar amongst Nicky Henderson’s ranks is Altior. While the 11-year-old is the 7/1 second-favourite for the Champion Chase behind Chacun Pour Soi, the incredible Cheltenham pedigree that this special horse possesses will not be overlooked by punters.

The Henderson yard possesses more Cheltenham household names: Buveur D’air, Champ, Epatante and Shishkin among them. While he isn’t training too many favourites, you’d be unwise to count out his runners who have been there and done it in the past.

Elsewhere, Paul Nicholls, who has claimed the Leading Trainer Award six times since 1999, is an incredibly chunky 33/1 to return to his former glories.

Politologue and Frodon are worth keeping an eye on for Nicholls, both of whom have won at Cheltenham in recent years.

You can back Dan Skelton at the same price, though he’s as short as 20/1 with one bookmaker, suggesting he does have at least a puncher’s chance this year.

Cheltenham Top Trainer Odds:

• Willie Mullins - 2/9
• Henry de Bromhead - 8/1
• Nicky Henderson - 10/1
• Denise Foster - 12/1
• Dan Skelton - 33/1
• Paul Nicholls - 33/1
• Colin Tizzard - 66/1

Cheltenham Top Trainer previous winners:

Find all the very best expert insight and predictions for this year's Festival on our Cheltenham Tips page. For special offers and bookmaker signups head to our Cheltenham Free Bets page.