Interesting Irish stories that emerged from Cheltenham - 'A Performance for the Ages' The 2026 Cheltenham Festival is one that will live long in the memory. It was full of huge highs but also some lows and here are the most interesting Irish stories from the week. Gaelic Warrior smashes his rivals in the Gold Cup Paul Townend set a new record when riding his fifth Gold Cup winner aboard Gaelic Warrior to become the leading jockey in the race of all time, while Willie Mullins has now equalled Tom Dreaper's five wins. In what looked like a hugely competitive renewal of the race before the flag fell, it was anything but, as Townend sat motionless once they turned for home for the final time and only had to jump the last two to ensure an easy victory. It was one of the most breathtaking performances we have ever seen in the race and he will surely be back for more in 2027. Irish punter nets €558,000 from 50c each-way Lucky 63 One lucky Irish punter walked away with a staggering €558,000 from a 50c each-way Lucky 63 placed on the Friday of Cheltenham. The enormous payout was made possible by somehow finding the Triumph Hurdle winner Apolon De Charnie at odds of 50-1! The punter's incredible Lucky 63 selections were: Apolon De Charnie 50/1 Wilful 14/1 Dinoblue 11/8 Johnny's Jury 20/1 Gaelic Warrior 11/4 Barton Snow 9/2 Fifth-time lucky for Home By The Lee Joseph O'Brien is one of the best Flat trainers in the business but he is also an incredible jumps trainer. Veteran Home By The Lee, now an 11-year-old and tackling the Stayers' Hurdle for the fifth time, finally pulled it off at odds of 33/1. It can't be stated enough how good a training performance this was but O'Brien did give punters some clues as he said his previous run when winning the Galmoy Hurdle was him back to his very best. Tragic loss of Envoi Allen As with every Cheltenham Festival, there are highs and lows, and the extreme low of the week was the loss of the superstar Envoi Allen. What makes his loss even more tragic was the fact he was having his final career run in the Gold Cup. A winner of the Champion Bumper and Ballymore Novices' Hurdle for Gordon Elliott, he was appearing at the Festival for the eighth time and it's a huge blow to Henry de Bromhead and all connected to the horse. Lossiemouth storms to Champion Hurdle glory Will she or won't she? Rich Ricci was accused of not being brave enough with his star horses often but punters were delighted to see him go for the Champion Hurdle this year with his star mare Lossiemouth. And it proved to be the right call, as in first-time cheekpieces she blew the field apart!
