'I think he'll win' - Paddy Flood fancies a 9-1 chance for the Cheltenham Gold Cup Our team of pundits Emma Nagle, Johnny Ward, Paddy Flood and Vincent Finegan looked ahead to the 2025/26 national hunt season on our recent Jump season preview show. Opinions differed on the panel when discussing the 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Paddy Flood taking on the 7-2 favourite Inothewayurthinkin with a confident 9-1 shot. Johnny Ward "I just don't see what beats Inothewayurthinkin. He loves it, he's extremely straightforward to train particularly for a Walk In The Park. “A lot has to go right even to produce a horse at Cheltenham, to be there on the day but everything is about Cheltenham and everything else is secondary. “The performance he showed at the age he was in March - he absolutely smashed Galopin Des Champs. You don't see that and as much as Galopin Des Champs wasn’t quite at his best on the day, this horse has so much upside. “He'll be prepped for one race, you're not talking about him being over the top by Cheltenham in March. He'll be prepped for one race. I don't really see what beats him, if he’s in the form he was in last year. “He’s a horse with speed, a horse who has that Walk In The Park toe but he’s a rare one and we've seen this as a novice. “He really has a kick at the end of his races. So the price mightn't seem great but I really can't see how he's beaten if he's produced in the same nick on the day." Paddy Flood "I'm not going to lose faith in Fact To File. He's a three-mile winner around Cheltenham already and he won easy. “I think he still overraced a lot last year. He was still that exuberant young sort of chaser. “Oh jeez, he's got so much class. So much class. And with Jonbon, it's going to depend on what Nicky's going to do with him, whether he's going to step him up. “Just listening to Willie, he still thinks he's a Gold Cup horse. He was convinced last year he was - until he wasn't. “I think with another year under his belt, he'll race a lot more attractively this year and I have a lot of faith. I hope he goes for a Gold Cup because I think he'll win a Gold Cup." Vincent Finegan “I still fancy the favourite, Inothewayurthinkin, he came back last season with the Grand National in mind, but then he was supplemented for the Gold Cup and he hacks up.” “I think they will wrap him up in cotton wool again and put him away. For me that’s the key here.” “He’ll come back a stronger horse and even an improved horse.” Watch the full preview show
