Close Brothers and Cheltenham Festival 2025
Tuesday 11 to Friday 14 March 2025
Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle 2025
Day 1 – Champion Day, saw our named race, the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle, take place at 3:20 pm.
It was Lossiemouth, ridden by Paul Townend and trained by Willie Mullins, who claimed the victory by an impressive seven and a half lengths ahead of stablemate Jade De Grugy, ridden by Danny Mullins, who come in second.
Congratulations to Lossiemouth on retaining her crown and adding her name to our roll of honour for a second consecutive year.
Last year's winner: Lossiemouth
Last year's Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle saw the favourite Lossiemouth, ridden by Paul Townend and trained by Willie Mullins, surge to victory, with the prior year's winning jockey Rachael Blackmore coming second on Telmesomethinggirl.
We also saw Love Envoi run her final race, as trainer Harry Fry announced her retirement. Love Envoi previously finished second behind Honeysuckle in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle in 2023.
Cheltenham Festival 2025 recap
Day one – Champion Day lived up to its reputation for delivering breathtaking performances and unexpected twists.
In a race filled with drama, the Unibet Champion Hurdle saw outsider Golden Ace take the win following pre-race favourite Constitution Hill unseating Jockey Nico de Boinville at the fifth.
You can see the full list of winners from day one below:
- The Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Kopek Des Bordes, ridden by Paul Townend, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The My Pension Expert Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Steeple Chase – Jago Baie, ridden by Nico de Boinville, trained by Nicky Henderson.
- The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase – Myretown, ridden by Patrick Wedge, trained by Lucinda Russell.
- The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle – Lossiemouth, ridden by Paul Townend, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy – Golden Ace, ridden by Lorcan Williams, trained by Jeremy Scott.
- The Hallgarten and Novum Wines Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – Puturhandstogether, ridden by Mark Walsh, trained by Joseph Patrick O’Brien.
- The Princes Royal National Hunt Challenge Cup – Haiti Couleurs, ridden by Ben Jones, trained by Rebecca Curtis.
Jockey Harry Skelton kick started Style Wednesday with a win on The New Lion in the Turner’s Novice Hurdle, and gave trainer JP McManus his 80th career winner at Cheltenham.
In the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase, Marine Nationale, ridden by Sean Flanagan, trained by Barry Connell, charged ahead of favourite Jonbon and claimed the win by an impressive 18 lengths.
It was a great end to the day as Jody Townend secured the first win for a female jockey at this year's Festival with Bambino Fever in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.
Jody’s brother, Paul Townend, was the winning jockey in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle on Tuesday afternoon.
You can see the full list of winners from day two below:
- The Turners Novice Hurdle – The New Lion, ridden by Harry Skelton, trained by Dan Skelton.
- The Brown Advisory Novices’ Steeple Chase – Lecky Watson, ridden by Sean O’Keefe, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The Coral Cup Handicap Chase – Jimmy Du Seuil, ridden by Danny Mullins, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase – Stumptown, ridden by Keith Donoghue, trained by Gavin Cromwell.
- The BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase – Marine Nationale, ridden by Sean Flanagan, trained by Barry Connell.
- The Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Steeple Chase – Jazzy Matty, ridden by Danny Gilligan, trained by Cian Collins.
- The Weatherbys Champion Bumper – Bambino Fever, ridden by Jody Townend, trained by Willie Mullins.
Irish pride was in full swing for St Patrick’s Thursday, with Rachael Blackmore securing two victories on the day in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle with Air of Entitlement, and in the Paddy Power Stayers Hurdle with Bob Olinger, making it a third Cheltenham Festival win for the racehorse.
Elsewhere, trainer Paul Nicholls earned his 50th festival winner with Caldwell Potter, ridden by Harry Cobden.
The full list of winners from day three can be seen below:
- The Ryanair Mares’ Novice Hurdle - Air of Entitlement, ridden by Rachael Blackmore, trained by Henry de Bromhead.
- The Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase – Caldwell Potter, ridden by Harry Cobden, trained by Paul Nicholls.
- The Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle - Doddiethegreat, ridden by Brian Hughes, trained by Nicky Henderson.
- The Ryanair Steeple Chase – Fact To File, ridden by Mark Walsh, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle – Bob Olinger, ridden by Rachael Blackmore, trained by Henry de Bromhead.
- The Trustatrader Plate Handicap Steeple Chase – Jagwar, ridden by Jonjo O’neill Jr., trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero.
- The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup – Daily Present, ridden by Barry Thomas Stone, trained by Paul Nolan.
Gold Cup Day delivered a great finale to festival week. In the feature race, the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, it was Inothewayurthinkin, ridden by Mark Walsh, and trained by Gavin Cromwell who emerged victorious, marking their first ever Gold Cup win.
For last year’s winner, Galopin Des Champs, ridden by Paul Townend, and trained by Willie Mullins, the dream of making Cheltenham Festival history as the first horse since Best Mate to win three consecutive Gold Cups slipped away, as they came second in the race.
It wasn’t all bad news for trainer Willie Mullins, as he secured the first four wins of the afternoon, taking his total up to 10 winners across the week and earning him the leading trainer award at the festival for the twelfth time.
The full list of winners for the day can be seen below:
- The JCB Triumph Hurdle – Poniros, ridden by Jonjo O’Neill, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The William Hill County Handicap Hurdle – Kargese, ridden by Paul Townend, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeple Chase – Dinoblue, ridden by Mark Walsh, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle – Jasmin De Vaux, ridden by Paul Townend, trained by Willie Mullins.
- The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup – Inothewayurthinkin, ridden by Mark Walsh, trained by Gavin Cromwell.
- The St. James’ Place Festival Challenge Cup – Wonderwall, ridden by Robert James, trained by S. Curling.
- The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap – Wodhooh, ridden by Danny Gilligan, trained by Gordon Elliott.
Our sponsored race highlights for 2024
Roll of Honour for Cheltenham Festival sponsored races
Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer |
| 2025 | Lossiemouth | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2024 | Lossiemouth | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2023 | Honeysuckle | Rachael Blackmore | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2022 | Marie’s Rock | Nico de Boinville | Nicky Henderson |
| 2021 | Black Tears | Jack Kennedy | Denise Foster |
| 2020 | Honeysuckle | Rachael Blackmore | Henry de Bromhead |
Close Brothers Novices' Handicap Chase
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer |
| 2019 | A Plus Tard | Rachael Blackmore | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2018 | Mister Whitaker | Brian Hughes | Mick Channon |
| 2017 | Tully East | Denis O’Regan | Alan Fleming |
| 2016 | Ballyalton | Brian Hughes | Ian Williams |
Honeysuckle: The Next Chapter
Who could forget the fairytale ending at Cheltenham Festival 2023 with Honeysuckle, ridden by Rachael Blackmore and trained by Henry de Bromhead, signing off her career with a fourth Festival victory in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle, a race she previously won back in 2020.
Watch the video to see how Honeysuckle is settling into life after retirement and meet her new foal.
Proud partner of The Jockey Club
Since 2016, we have been proud to partner with The Jockey Club, supporting British horse racing at 15 of the country’s most iconic racecourses.
From Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National Festival and The Derby, The Jockey Club is part of the fabric of British racing.
At Close Brothers, we believe in hard work, determination, teamwork and resilience, and these values are at the heart of our people and our business.
It’s these values that have drawn us to the world of horse racing, a world where success comes from following these same principles.
Governed by Royal Charter, every penny The Jockey Club makes goes back into British horse racing, with more than 6,000 people employed to look after the 14,000 horses in training. It continues to invest in its facilities to make sure they offer their equine participants the best possible experience.