Winning the Gold Cup is the ultimate achievement at the Cheltenham Festival. However, prior to 2019, the prestigious golden chalice had become something of a holy grail to esteemed trainer Willie Mullins.
No matter how many runners he threw at it, the Irish handler just couldn’t get his hands on the sought-after trophy. That was until Al Boum Photo came along five years ago, not only ending his drought in the feature race but winning it twice in succession.
Fast forward to the current day, and Mullins has won four of the last six renewals of the Gold Cup, with Galopin Des Champs following in his predecessor’s hoofs and winning back-to-back editions in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
The eight-year-old has the opportunity to do what Al Boum Photo couldn’t and extend the list of horses who have won the Gold Cup three times in a row to five.
He’s favorite in the Cheltenham ante-post markets, but this is the biggest race of them all, and he’ll face stiff competition.
That said, let’s take a look at some of the rivals set to take on Galopin Des Champs this year—potentially dethroning him on the cusp of greatness.
Fact To File
The 2025 renewal of the Gold Cup could be bittersweet for Mullins, as the dual defending champion’s nearest rival in the betting is his own stablemate Fact To File.
The JP McManus-owned gelding made the switch directly from bumpers to fences last season, finishing second to American Mike on his chase debut.
However, he kicked on emphatically from that with three wins in a row over the larger obstacles—including Grade 1 successes at Leopardstown and Cheltenham.
The former Manchester United chief, who is the most successful owner in National Hunt Racing history, has won the Gold Cup just once, in 2012, with Synchronised, and Fact To File certainly appears to have the ability to double the Irish Billionaire’s tally.
Fastorslow
Aside from a devastating fall when well clear of Bob Olinger in the 2022 edition of the Turners Novices’ Chase, Fastorslow is the only horse to beat Galopin Des Champs in a race where he has managed to finish.
And, it’s not just on one occasion either. The two-time Gold Cup winner has fallen at the hoofs of the Martin Brassil-trained horse on an astonishing three occasions—all of which have come at Punchestown in County Kildare.
Fastorslow first stunned Galopin Des Champs in April 2023, just one month after his maiden Gold Cup victory, and he took him down twice at either end of last season—winning the Punchestown Memorial Chase on their reappearance before retaining his Punchestown Gold Cup in April.
It’s perhaps that the right-handed track and tight nature of the Naas-based track don’t suit Galopin Des Champs, as he was almost four lengths clear of Fastorslow at Leopardstown in February, while he would have undoubtedly had the better of his rival in the Gold Cup even if he didn’t unseat his rider.
Gerri Colombe
At one stage early last season, Gerri Colombe was the ante-post favorite for the Gold Cup and was being very well backed by punters on horse racing betting sites.
An exciting novice over fences, winning four of his five starts—including three Group 1s—Gerri Colombe kicked off last season with a win over his elders in the Down Royal Champion Chase.
That victory caused a lot of fanfare for the Gordon Elliott-trained horse, and as a result, he was backed into favoritism for the Gold Cup.
However, Galopin Des Champs put him in his place at Leopardstown in December when finishing almost 25 lengths clear in the Savills Chase and there was almost four lengths separating the pair when Gerri Colombe was once again second to Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup.
