2024 Cheltenham Festival: Five leading owners

J. P. McManus

• Festival wins: 73
• Leading owner (since 2017): 3 times - 2019, 2020, 2023
• Best year: 2020 (7 wins)
• First Festival winner: Mister Donovan, 1982 Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle (Baring Bingham)
• Champion Hurdle winners: Istabraq (1998-2000), Binocular (2010), Jezki (2014), Buveur d'Air (2017,2018), Espoir d'Allen (2019), Epatante (2020)
• Gold Cup winner: Synchronised (2012)

The green and gold hoops of J. P. McManus have been carried to victory at the Cheltenham Festival for more than 40 years, with the owner’s first winner at the meeting dating back to Mister Donovan’s win in the Sun Alliance Hurdle (now the Baring Bingham) in 1982. McManus has been leading owner at three of the last five Festivals, notably when notching seven winners in 2020, and took the title again last year when another four winners took his record total to 73. McManus also holds the record for the most wins in the Champion Hurdle, with nine victories, while Synchronised gave him his sole success in the Gold Cup in 2012.

The Nicky Henderson-trained Jonbon is certainly the best of his owner’s huge string split between Britain and Ireland but he’s bumped into Constitution Hill and El Fabiolo at the last couple of Festivals and will have to turn form round with the latter from last year’s Arkle if he’s to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase. That could leave last season’s Grand Annual runner-up Dinoblue as her owner’s best chance of the week in the Mares’ Chase (which McManus has won for the last two years) as her only defeat in five runs since came when chasing home El Fabiolo in the Dublin Chase last time.

The unbeaten Jeriko du Reponet gives McManus a contender in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle but his novice chasers look a stronger group with the likes of Dublin Racing Festival winner Fact To File, last year’s Martin Pipe winner Iroko and National Hunt Chase hope Corbetts Cross to represent him.

The McManus horses are always to be respected in the Festival’s handicaps and he has no shortage of possible winners this year, with the hurdlers headed by recent Betfair Hurdle winner Iberico Lord with Nicky Henderson. He’s backed up by the Willie Mullins-trained pair Zenta and Sa Majeste, while a couple of qualifiers for the Pertemps Final that take the eye are Icare Allen and former Festival winner over fences Chantry House. Saint Roi (Grand Annual) and Perceval Legallois (Kim Muir) are among those to note in the handicap chases.

Simon Munir & Isaac Souede

• Festival wins: 7
• Best year: 2023 (2 wins)
• First Festival winner: Soldatino, 2010 Triumph Hurdle

The ‘double green’ colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede have been a familiar sight in Britain for some time now and Munir had his first Festival winner in 2010 as sole owner when the Nicky Henderson-trained Soldatino won the Triumph Hurdle. Henderson also trained the 2012 Fred Winter winner Une Artiste and a second Triumph winner, Peace And Co, in 2015.

However, the pair’s more recent Festival winners have all been trained by Willie Mullins, including El Fabiolo and Impaire Et Passe, Grade 1 winners last year in the Sporting Life Arkle (also won by the same connections’ Footpad in 2018) and Baring Bingham respectively. Last season, Munir and Souede had more winners in Ireland than in Britain for the first time and Mullins again looks their most likely source of Festival winners this year with El Fabiolo, still unbeaten over fences, very much the one to beat in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

As well as Jasmin de Vaux, vying for favouritism in the Champion Bumper after winning by a wide margin on his debut at Naas, they have another Arkle contender this year with Hunters Yarn, while the unbeaten Readin Tommy Wrong has options in the Baring Bingham and Albert Bartlett. Unexposed French import Batman Girac is prominent in the betting for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

Marie Donnelly

• Festival wins: 6
• Best year: 2020 (2 wins)
• First Festival winner: Al Boum Photo, 2019 Cheltenham Gold Cup
• Gold Cup winner: Al Boum Photo (2019, 2020)

After some near-misses with Melon, four times a runner-up at the Festival, the black and yellow check colours of Marie Donnelly and husband Joe were successful for the first time at the meeting in 2019 and in the biggest race of all, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Al Boum Photo who repeated the feat twelve months later. The couple have now celebrated winners at each of the last five Festivals, with their latest success coming with Gaillard du Mesnil in last years’ National Hunt Novices’ Chase.

Two more of their past Festival winners will be bidding to add to their records, with 2022 County Hurdle winner State Man now very much the one to beat in the Champion Hurdle in the absence of Constitution Hill who beat him nine lengths into second last year. Former Supreme and Sporting Life Arkle winner Shishkin has a new challenge this year, in the Gold Cup, with his recent win in the Denman Chase at Newbury a reminder he’s the leading British-trained candidate for all that his campaign has been anything but straightforward.

Another of the Donnellys’ best chances this year could be with new recruit from France Sir Gino who has impressed when successful in both his starts for Nicky Henderson at Kempton and Cheltenham, particularly when winning a Grade 2 contest at the latter track by ten lengths, after which he’s now odds on for the Triumph Hurdle. Albert Bartlett entry Dancing City has achieved the most so far among the owners’ novice hurdlers, winning a Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival, but Shanagh Bob, entered in the same race, has won both his starts for Henderson, including a Grade 2 novice at Cheltenham.

Robcour

• Festival wins: 2
• First Festival winner: Bob Olinger, 2021 Ballymore Novices' Hurdle

Racing under the Robcour banner, Brian Acheson has quickly established himself among Ireland’s leading owners and had his first taste of Festival success as recently as 2021 when the Henry de Bromhead-trained Bob Olinger won the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle before winning again at the following year’s Festival in the Turners Novices’ Chase, albeit very fortunately when left clear by Galopin des Champs’ fall at the last.

Two of Robcour’s main hopes this year are in the Stayers’ Hurdle, with the Gordon Elliott-trained pair Teahupoo and Irish Point impossible to split at the head of the betting with some bookmakers. Teahupoo was a close third in last year’s race, and while he won the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle again this season, unlike last term he’s been kept fresh for Cheltenham this time where he wouldn’t want the ground to dry up too much before the Festival. Irish Point has now won his last four starts and was an easy winner of the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown on his first try over three miles, though could contest the Champion Hurdle given very soft ground, especially now that Constitution Hill won't be running.

Gerri Colombe narrowly lost his unbeaten record in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at last year’s Festival and while he made a better start to the campaign than the reigning Gold Cup winner, his own Gold Cup hopes took a knock when suffering a heavy defeat at the hands of a back-to-form Galopin des Champs in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown last time. Even so, his Gold Cup claims are more solid than Robcour’s other entry Gentlemansgame who was having only his third race over fences when beating last season’s Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.

Slade Steel gives Robcour and Henry de Bromhead hopes of another win in the Baring Bingham after finishing second at the Dublin Racing Festival and the owners’ Cheltenham squad has potentially been boosted by the purchase of Elliott’s Ryanair Chase entry Fil Dor for €620,000 from former owners Andy and Gemma Brown.

Gigginstown House Stud

• Festival wins: 33
• Leading owner (since 2017): twice - 2017, 2018
• Best year: 2018 (7 wins)
• First Festival winner: War of Attrition, 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup
• Gold Cup winners: War of Attrition (2006), Don Cossack (2016)

Since their first winner in 2006, when War of Attrition won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Gigginstown have emerged as second only to J. P. McManus as the most successful owners at the Festival. So Michael O’Leary’s announcement in May 2019 that Gigginstown would be wound down in the coming seasons made headlines, though in practice the operation remains very much a thriving one if not quite on the same scale as previously, while the split with Willie Mullins, another big story at the time, is also now water under the bridge. It remains the case that Gigginstown has had at least one winner at every Cheltenham Festival since 2014, and their number of winners in Ireland this term has already exceeded last season’s total.

Gigginstown are still big spenders too, as evidenced by Brighterdaysahead, a €310,000 purchase, who is unbeaten in five starts and a leading contender for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, a race now sponsored by her owner. Even more expensive was Jalon d’Oudairies, at £420,000, now vying for favouritism for the Champion Bumper and looking an excellent prospect after winning both his starts impressively. Cleatus Poolaw (Pertemps Final), King of Kingsfield (County Hurdle) and Quai de Bourbon (Martin Pipe) are all unexposed novices who’ll be interesting in those handicap hurdles.

But besides some exciting younger prospects, some of Gigginstown’s old guard will be returning to the Festival too, notably Delta Work who’s bidding to win the Cross-Country Chase for the third year running. He could be joined in that race by the high-class Coko Beach, a recent winner on his cross-country debut at Punchestown. Last year’s Gold Cup third Conflated has a few options, including in the Ryanair Chase, in which he was running well when falling two years ago, while Samcro, a dual Festival winner in his prime, is a successful pointer these days and could go for the Hunters’ Chase.

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