'Force to be reckoned with' - All about the Prestbury Cup

There's plenty going on at Cheltenham, with an abundance of top-class racing action and a cracking atmosphere to match.

The competition is fierce from race to race but there's an added dimension of rivalry created by the Prestbury Cup.

What is the Prestbury Cup?

If you've ever wondered why jockeys carry Union Jack or Irish flags above their heads when they go into the winners' enclosure, this is why.

The Prestbury Cup was established in 2014 and is hosted annually at the Cheltenham Festival.

It's a competition between British and Irish trainers and the winner is determined by the number of winners trained by each at the Cheltenham Festival. There are 28 races in total, so you need 14 to tie or 15 to win it outright.

Who usually wins it?

In short, Ireland has won it almost every year since its inception in 2014. If you add up the total number of winners since 2014, it doesn't make for good reading for the home team. Ireland's grand total is 204, while Britain has 128.

Team Britain managed to win the first two renewals, with 15-12 and 14-13 victories but other than one tie, Ireland has dominated with nine outright victories. That trend doesn't look like changing anytime soon, at least not until Willie Mullins retires.

What was the result in 2025?

Ireland proved too strong once again last year and they took the crown with a convincing 20-8 victory. Willie Mullins again tipped the scale in Ireland's favour, with a grand total of 10 winners across the four days, four of which came on the Friday.

Milestone results

Britain won the first-ever Prestbury Cup in 2014, with a score of 15 winners compared to Ireland's 12. The big wins for Britain included Sire De Grugy in the Champion Chase, Dynasty in the Ryanair Chase and More Of That in the World Hurdle (Stayers' Hurdle).

The first, and to date only, tie in the contest happened in 2019 when Britain and Ireland had 14 winners apiece.

Espoir D'Allen won the Champion Hurdle and Al Boum Photo landed the Gold Cup for Ireland, while Altior struck back for Britain in the Champion Chase, alongside Stayers' Hurdle scorer Paisley Park.

Ireland's demolition job in 2021 resulted in the biggest winning margin in the competition's history. The away team won 23 races, compared to Britain's five, which was a complete and utter humiliation. Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead did most of the heavy lifting, with seven and six winners apiece.

Did you know?

Bookies usually offer odds on who will win the Prestbury Cup and once the market is formed, all the sensible money will be on another comfortable victory for Ireland.

Mullins, De Bromhead and Gordon Elliott are usually a force to be reckoned with and they make victory for Team Britain very hard to achieve.