Galopin Des Champs seeks 3rd straight Cheltenham Gold Cup
It has been 21 years since any horse won a third consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup. Facing the race’s smallest field since 2016, Galopin Des Champs is an odds-on favorite Friday to pull off the three-peat in the Grade 1, US$808,884 steeplechase.
The centerpiece of a four-day jumps festival in southwest England features nine horses going 3 5/16 miles over 22 fences starting at noon EDT.
A 9-year-old black gelding trained by iconic four-time Gold Cup winner Willie Mullins, Galopin Des Champs has won 12 of the 18 races in which he has been favored. They include the last two Gold Cups and his last two starts, both 3 1/16-mile Group 1 steeplechases this winter at Leopardstown, Ireland. He has been odds-on in early international betting for the Gold Cup and was installed as a 1-2 morning-line favorite in the U.S.
Paired as usual with jockey Paul Townend, also a four-time Gold Cup winner, Galopin Des Champs will carry 164 pounds. That is the same weight being carried by each starter whose ages range from 7 to 11.
Galopin Des Champs is a France-bred son of Timos, a half-brother to 2016 Beverly D. (G1) winner Sea Calisi. With career earnings of US$2,096,576, he has been owned since November 2020 by Audrey Turley. Her family parlayed a car-rental supply chain in Ireland into technology and cybersecurity investments.
Based on the morning line, Banbridge (9-2) and Inothewayurthinkin (7-1) will be Galopin Des Champs’s top challengers Friday. Trained by Joseph O’Brien, 9-year-old Banbridge is a three-time Grade 1 victor who won Dec. 26 going three miles in the King George VI Chase (G1) at Kempton, England. Inothewayurthinkin, who is 7 and the race’s youngest starter, finished third to Galopin Des Champs on Feb. 1 in the 3 1/16-mile Irish Gold Cup Chase (G1) at Leopardstown.
If he wins Friday, Galopin Des Champs would join Golden Miller from 1932 to 1936, Cottage Rake 1948-50, Arkle 1964-66 and Best Mate 2002-04 with at least three consecutive Gold Cups.
With a 60% chance of light showers and a forecast high of 45 degrees, the course is expected to be good to soft for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which was run on soft ground for Galopin Des Champs’s triumphs in 2023 and 2024.