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Equinties - the Cheltenham awards
BGP Capital
March 16, 2026
Gm, Equinauts
Before we jump into this years Cheltenham awards we want to celebrate the lives of the four horses who sadly didn’t make it back to their stables.
HMS SEA HORSE. HANSARD. SAINT LE FORT. ENVOI ALLEN.
Thank you for the memories.
The loss of ENVOI ALLEN was a particularly bad blow to take.
The newsletter is hard work during Cheltenham week and that means we typically stay at home during the big meetings in order to keep our heads down and concentrate to make sure each edition is published early for readers to receive and digest time in good time.
Friday was different. It was ENVOI ALLEN’s last race and we HAD to be there to join in the send off and clap him home.
You won’t need reminding, but do look at his racing history…his insane career puts him up there a one of the best Cheltenham hall-of-famers of all time. His first 11 starts under rules were unbeaten including the biggest pots in the Champion Bumper and the Ballymore. After a fall when heavy odds on for a Grade Novices’ Chase in 2021’s Cheltenham Festival, he took a bit of time to recover and then came back to pick up third in the ‘22 Champion Chase and victory in the ‘23 RyanAir.
A 10x Grade 1 winner, last Friday was his supposed to be the denouement.
Ultimately, ENVOI ALLEN was carried out on his shield.
We didn’t get to clap him in.
We were heartbroken.
The black clouds which enveloped Prestbury Park were fitting as a physical metaphor of the atmosphere that surrounded the place,
we made sure to punch a pint of Guinness in the air - ‘to ENVOI ALLEN’.
Rest in peace, champ.
Let’s dive in.
CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL AWARDS
RIDE OF THE WEEK - HARRY COBDEN ON KITZBUHEL
Nearly every single winner last week came from a prominent ride because the ground meant anyone at the back had no chance of moving their legs quickly enough to make up the ground. Th absolute stand out front running performance was Harry Cobden on KITZBUHEL in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.
An exuberant jumper, Cobden must have felt like he was taking off for orbit every time he pinged them. Takes some balls to get on that beast. He wasn’t holding on for dear life though, he was fully in control and executed the race perfectly, nailing his fractions to land KITZBUHEL on line in perfect timing, just in front of the stablemate FINAL DEMAND. Class ride and we’re excited to see Cobden ride better horses for JP.
EYE-CATCHER OF THE WEEK - SALVER
Whilst we’re on the Brown Advisory, it’s probably worth highlighting the Gary Moore trainer SALVER who finished quickest behind the winner KITZBUHEL. When Harry was pinging them out in front on Mullins’ buck, Caoilin Quinn was basically last on SALVER. He had absolutely no business finishing third in this race and his finish suggests this lad has a HUGE pot in him. The yard have always labelled him their best horse. If the ground was heavy, god knows where he might have finished that day - dare we say he might have given the winner something to think about! BLOW YOUR WAD for Gary Moore was also a fast finisher in his respective race - they’re both to keep on side!
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK - GAELIC WARRIOR
This one was easy and no one can argue it. GAELIC WARRIOR winning the Gold Cup hard on the bridle will go down as one of the most memorable Gold Cups in the history of racing. Even Patrick Mullins, who has witnessed his Dad deliver hundreds of winners, describes GAELIC WARRIOR’s win as ‘as good a performance as I’ve seen at Cheltenham’. High praise indeed.
WORST PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK - GORDON ELLIOTT
After a week off mocking people like the RacingBlogger and trainer Ben Pauling at preview nights in the build up to the Cheltenham Festival, Gordon got his medicine.
In two years of sending boat loads of runners to Prestbury Park, he’s only managed two winners - and both of those wins came from the talented mare WODHOOH! Without her, Gordon would be cooked. She’d have got extra carrots last week.
It’s unbelievable that after such a shitshow meeting highlighting the massive void between his yard and the wizard Mullins’, he’s genuinely still going to give Willie a close run for his money in the Irish trainers title!
STROP OF THE WEEK - WILLIE MULLINS
It was a surprise to see the normally oh so cool, calm and collected Willie Mullins lose his temper last week. And we really can’t work out why he did it.
Basically, Willie Mullins threw his toys out the pram over the ground and then proceeded to pull FACT TO FILE out of the RyanAir for which they were heavy odds on fave for and to some, the banker of the week!
The ground was genuine good ground, fast but generally safe. Probably not as fast as the going at Kempton at Christmas for the King George, probably just slightly quicker than the going for the RyanAir last year.
You understand what we’re getting at here, right? The ground was absolutely fine for FACT TO FILE who doesn’t have a particularly high action and is very much versatile on all ground.
So, why then did Willie pull FACT TO FILE but leave in all the other runners he had that day - about 15 of them!
In all honesty, it absolutely stinks and if Willie Mullins wanted to be taken seriously by Cheltenham, he needed to pull his other runners out.
He got a lot of sh*t for it on social media and rightly so.
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