2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup Guide

With the Cheltenham Festival fast approaching, the excitement for one of the biggest horse racing events of the year is increasing, with bettors and horse racing fans doing their research throughout the different days of the Cheltenham Festival. OddsMonkey has guides for specific days, such as our Cheltenham Festival Day 1 guide, but we’ve also created this guide for the event’s most prestigious race, the Gold Cup!

In typical OddsMonkey style, we’ll look at all the different aspects surrounding the Gold Cup, from the basics of the race to the favorites and picks throughout the 2026 Cheltenham Festival!

What is the Cheltenham Gold Cup?

For most horse racing fans, the Cheltenham Gold Cup is one of the most prestigious trophies in the entire horse racing calendar, with the Grand National being another illustrious competition. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is held annually in Gloucestershire, and it is a Grade 1 National Hunt race, meaning it is a horse racing event that only admits the best of the best!

The Gold Cup takes place on Friday, which is the last day of the Cheltenham Festival every year, and the race is so highly regarded that the entire day is named after it, hence the name Gold Cup Friday. Usually taking place around 16:00 (GMT), this event is the most famous race at the Cheltenham Festival. The Gold Cup attracts some of the best horses, jockeys and trainers from around the world, and winning the race is known as one of the greatest achievements in the world of jumps racing!

Cheltenham Gold Cup Race

The Cheltenham Gold Cup race is run over 3 miles and 2 1⁄2 furlongs, which is about 5.2 kilometers, making it one of the longest races of the entire Cheltenham Festival. With 22 fences, it is a challenging race for both horse and jockey, as it requires skill, determination and stamina to perform well throughout the Gold Cup. If bettors want to learn more about horse racing, we offer a horse racing betting guide that contains information related to horse racing betting!

The Cheltenham Gold Cup usually has a maximum of 14 runners, although this number can vary depending on the year, as there may be some non-runners or withdrawals before the race. The horses that enter the Cheltenham Gold Cup are known as the best in England and the world! There are several requirements that must be met for a horse to be eligible, as horses under 5 years of age cannot compete, and horses that have won or placed in a Grade 1 race previously will most likely be considered for the Gold Cup.

Lastly, the Gold Cup race has one of the largest prize pools in horse racing. Prize totals tend to exceed £600,000, and the winner usually receives around £350,000. This amount usually varies each year, depending on sponsorship and other factors.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse. While the Old Course is better suited to faster horses who like to sit close to the pace, the New Course offers a much tougher test of stamina! If you’re new to horse racing betting but want to get in on the excitement of the Cheltenham Festival, be sure to read our beginner’s tips for the Cheltenham Festival!

2026 Gold Cup Preview

Looking ahead to the upcoming Gold Cup on Friday March 13th, there are plenty of exciting options to choose from among the horses currently set to compete in the Gold Cup. Last year’s winner was Inothewayurthinkin, who beat favorite Galopin Des Champs to deny him a historic third win in a row.

With odds of 6/1 on Inothewayurthinkin this year, Galopin Des Champs looks to reclaim the trophy at odds of 11/2, making this horse the favorite for this year’s event! However there are plenty of other horses who could shock the field, such as The Jukebox Man and Gaelic Warrior, who are placed at odds of 8/1 and 10/1 respectively.

Throughout the field, we can see many other impressive horses, such as Grangeclare West. The 2026 Gold Cup is set to be a thrilling contest, proving why it is one of the biggest horse races of the year.

If you’re looking for a different all-day preview, check out our Cheltenham Festival Day 4 guide, which looks at the other races taking place in Friday’s Gold Cup.

Cheltenham Festival At OddsMonkey

The Cheltenham Festival is just around the corner, and there’s no better place than OddsMonkey to find out everything you need to know about horse racing, but more specifically, horse racing match betting! With guides on how to get into matched betting and various techniques bettors can use, OddsMonkey has it all!

We also want to ensure that bettors using the OddsMonkey site make the most of the Cheltenham Festival, which is why we’ve included a Cheltenham Festival betting offers guide that can be used when placing bets throughout the Cheltenham Festival!