Cheltenham Festival 2026 podcast team discuss who goes off favourite for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup?

Ben Linfoot: Who goes off favourite for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup? I like this question because there are six or seven horses at single-figure prices, there's a horse in there that has to be supplemented and it's a bit of a tricky one. But I want to know your thoughts on this...

Dave Massey: I think public support will come for The Jukebox Man on the day. And I think he'll go off favourite.

Graham Cunningham: I think if Fact To File is supplemented, he needs to be favourite because I think he would have the most persuasive claims. I have no inside info on what they are likely to do, because he would be a very short price to bolt up in the Ryanair again.

But I really hope they go to the race. Go to the race you're most likely to win, I get it, but it's glory when you're as old as JP McManus, you want to win Gold Cups and you've got a horse who's looking really, really strong. Gets a stiff three miles on soft ground.

To me, Fact To File needs to be in the Gold Cup. And if he doesn't stay, he doesn't stay.

Ben Linfoot: But JP's won two Gold Cups. He's got last year's winner, Inothewayurthinkin. The vibes for him have been strong. We've seen Langer Dan come alive in the spring every year...

Dave Massey: This is hugely different. That's comparing apples with oranges, mate! Festival form is Festival form is Festival form, that's an old maxim from down the years, but come on. On the words of the trainer and how well it's suddenly working it has now collapsed in price, too. I mean, what's he got to find on this season's form?

Billy Nash: About 25, 30 pounds, a huge, huge amount, so much so that we've put a question mark behind his rating because we just really don't know what to expect him to show.

Dave Massey: At a single-figure price? I'd rather have a fiver each-way on Three Card Brag!

Ben Linfoot: I'm not saying I'd back him, I'm just saying when JP is listening to his trainers this might have an impact on whether he supplements Fact To File or not.

Graham Cunningham: This is the frustrating thing about the race. That horse could bounce back, Inothewayurthinkin, but you're left scratching your head if he does. We're not sure about Fact To File, so maybe it's best to deal with the ones we know are going to run. I don't know what price he'll be, but I think The Jukebox Man is highly likely to run a screamer because he has a lot of what you look for in a Gold Cup horse.

Dave Massey: On Trackside we put him up as the horse to follow twice. When he won the King George he was booked for fourth at the last and the way that he put his head down and battled back between horses only suggested to me he's going to be even better over further.

And I know Ben Pauling thinks very much the same. He looks a stayer. He looks a galloper, he jumps well, he'll go left handed, he won't mind the ground. He's got a lot in his fight. That was only his fourth run over fences don't forget, there's more to come. There should be more to come from him.

Graham Cunningham: I know he was nailed late in the Albert Bartlett, but to me, the way he battled that day suggests that he's he's highly likely to prove just as effective at three and a quarter miles.

Dave Massey: I looked at him in the paddock for the Albert Bartlett and I thought this horse is stunning and went and had a good each-way back in the ring. I was stood next to Michael O'Leary as Stellar Story got back up, there was only me and him there. I looked at my each-way bet nearly in tears and he says, 'I think I've won'. And that was it. That was all he said. Thanks for that.

Graham Cunningham: You need it more than he did!

Dave Massey: I did at the end of that week! But to me, The Jukebox Man has got everything that you look for in a Gold Cup horse.

Billy Nash: I'm with GC. It all depends on Fact To File. If he runs here, he'll go off favourite. He should be. If he doesn't, I think it depends very much on how well the Irish are going, how the Mullins camp in particular are going. If Fact To File doesn't run Gaelic Warrior will and I'm not saying he should, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him go off favourite.

Obviously there's little or nothing between himself or The Jukebox Man and Jango Baie on the King George form, but, I wouldn't be as adamant as Dave about The Jukebox Man getting the trip. I think three miles to the Cheltenham Gold Cup is an entirely different animal. I'm not fully convinced he'll stay. Don't get me wrong, he's a joy to watch. He's a super jumper. Everything about him is great, but I would question his ability to get the trip.

For me, the same angle with Jango Baie. I just don't know what to make of that horse. He doesn't seem to be travelling over two miles. He didn't seem to travel in the King George over three. I'd be happy enough to leave him alone.

We haven't touched on Galopin Des Champs, who, it could be the heart ruling the head a small bit here. I just didn't think he was at his peak last year. This year has been a bit up and down. Obviously, he missed his his intended reappearance in the John Durkan, he ran well enough at Christmas and ran okay in the Irish Gold Cup, got beaten, had hard enough races.

But again the vibes have been very strong since then. Apparently he's been working really well at home. He's probably still the Mullins number one. He's still the Timeform top rated in the race.

Another one that we haven't mentioned and I think is absolutely tailor made for the race is Haiti Couleurs. I just don't see any chinks in his armour. He was so good in the National Chase last year, went and won an Irish National, went and won a Welsh National on Good to Firm ground. I think he'd have been a big player in the Irish Gold Cup. Obviously he didn't come over and he did nothing at Newbury to suggest that he's not at least up to this level, and we know what he's going to do. He'll go out in front and he'll jump and he will stay, and he's the one for me. He's the each-way bet in the race, definitely. He looks like a proper galloper.

Graham Cunningham: The one horse I want to mention at a biggish price who I do think will run well is Grey Dawning. I think people have sort of forgotten about him after he got turned over in the Cotswold Chase. I'm absolutely adamant that that was a case of being asked to quicken into an accelerating pace and making a mistake at the wrong time at the second last.

I think ridden quite cutely and patiently, he can stalk his way into a good position and run well. So in other words, the Brits have got a much better Gold Cup chance than they have had since Native River won it eight years ago.

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