Racing journalist Ash Symonds on history-making Galopin Des Champs, why the Gold Cup has fewer runners and the most exciting race to look out for.
The crown jewel of the horse racing calendar is upon us. The Cheltenham Festival begins on March 11 and over 250,000 are expected to flock to the iconic racecourse over the four days. With anticipation building, Park Life Sport spoke to expert journalist Ash Symonds, who provided some bitesize insight into the upcoming race week.
What race are you looking forward to and what should people be looking out for?
Just for the pure history of what could occur, you don’t get to see a whole scope of three gold cups in many lifetimes. Galopin Des Champs could potentially do that. The race probably isn’t as good as what he raced in last year. But look, if he wins three gold cups, that would be something quite incredible.
Galopin Des Champs pictured alongside famed trainer Willie Mullins (Left) and groom Adam Connolly (Right)
The one race, competitive-wise, that I’m actually looking forward to is definitely the opening race, Supreme Novices Hurdle. A lot of people will be talking about Kopek Des Bordes. He could be a sort of future star for Willie Mullins.
But there are reasons to potentially oppose him, and there are some really nice horses behind him. There’s a horse trained by Henry De Bromhead, called Workahead. There’s a horse trained by Willie Mullins, called Irancy. There’s a horse trained by Gordon Elliott, called Romeo Coolio. They’re all really good opponents. That Supreme Novices Hurdle should be quite a good race.
What do you think of the Gold Cup? Why are there fewer horses this year compared to in the past?
I think Galopin Des Champs, he’s probably caused the reason behind the lack of runners. It’s a shame, really, in our game, that when a horse becomes so good… It’s sort of like football, where Liverpool and Ipswich, for example, are scheduled to play each other at least two times a season. Ipswich can’t dodge it and play someone easier. In horse racing, horses can dodge each other if they want to.
So Galopin Des Champs, because he’s just so good, he’s probably the best he’s ever been. He is going to be quite tough to beat, barring something untoward happening in the Gold Cup. So when horses look at the gold cup and they potentially see Galopin Des Champs there, they want to try and go to a race they can win.
So that’s where they have the Ryanair Chase. Should the Ryanair Chase be in the Champions Festival? That is a debate. But, Galopin Des Champs is so good, that people are just avoiding it. But he should have at least five, maybe six runners to take on, which would be fine.
Watch: OFLH Cheltenham Festival 2025 FULL PREVIEW feat. Free Bets & Giveaways | Horse Racing Tips https://t.co/o3frikbH4M
— Ash Symonds Journalism (@ASymondsJourno) March 4, 2025
