Cheltenham Festival 2025 tips: Which trainers and jockeys to back

With the Cheltenham Festival 2025 fast approaching, it's time to analyse key trends and highlight the top trainers and jockeys who could dominate this year's event.

Whether you're a seasoned bettor or a newcomer looking for insights, we've got you covered.

In this guide, we'll break down the biggest names to watch at Cheltenham, from record-breaking trainer Willie Mullins to leading jockey Paul Townend, helping you make informed betting decisions.

Stay ahead of the game and find out which stables and riders are best positioned for success at the greatest show on turf.

Cheltenham Festival 2025 trainers

Willie Mullins

We might as well start off with the most obvious trainer you should keep note of, which is the 17-time Irish National Hunt Champion Trainer, Willie Mullins.

Mullins is comparable to Aidan O'Brien from the flat world. He dominates nearly every Grade 1 in Ireland and is the greatest of all time in terms of the jumping segment of this fantastic sport.

Last year, he won nine of the 28 races on offer, which accounts for just over 32% of the races in the week, showing his level of dominance.

By winning nine races at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, he brought his overall tally to 103 winners, which means he is 30 clear of his nearest rival, Nicky Henderson, who will be mentioned shortly.

This year Mullins arrives with another battalion of horses who will be tough to beat.

Gallopin Des Champs is the flag-bearer for the yard and will be tough to beat in his attempts to land a third Gold Cup in a row. Lossiemouth will have a cracking chance in the Mares' hurdle now she has swerved the Champion Hurdle, and I could keep going, but I'd be here all day.

Gordon Elliot

Gordon Elliot is arguably the biggest rival from Ireland who will want to challenge Mullins.

Elliot hasn't been in the game for anywhere near the length of time that Willie has, but in the last ten years or so, he has started to rack up Festival winners. He is most known for the great Tiger Roll, who landed multiple festival winners for Gordon.

Of active trainers, Elliot sits in fourth place for the most wins at the Festival, sitting ten behind Paul Nicholls, which goes to show the level of ammunition he has had in recent years, especially with the backing of big owners like Gigginstown House Stud.

In the last couple of years, he hasn't been as successful as I'm sure he would have liked, but he still has some good horses to look forward to, like Teahupoo in the Stayers' Hurdle, who is going for the back-to-back.

Henry De Bromhead

We might as well finish off the Irish trainers before moving over to the Brits, with Henry De Bromhead being the last ‘major' trainer to talk about, with the exception of Gavin Cromwell.

De Bromhead is the only trainer to win the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Gold Cup in the same year (2o21). He managed to win the Gold Cup the following year with A Plus Tard with Rachel Blackmore on board, and even though his form this season has been very in-and-out, he tends to bring his best form to the Festival and has some outstanding stable jockeys who can deliver the goods.

Nicky Henderson

The first man to talk about from Britain is definitely Nicky Henderson. He has been a stalwart of British jumps racing for the best part of 45 years, so it's quite incredible that he is still pumping out winners and churning out superstars year after year.

The main horse everyone wants to see win is definitely Constitution Hill who is in the debate for GOAT status over hurdles, and he is an odds-on shot to cement his legacy with another Champion Hurdle win.

Other than that, he hasn't got the same level of horses who are right at the very top as he used to have with the likes of Shiskin and Altior, but he is a crafty dog and will have some well-handicapped horses in the handicaps who will likely run big races under his stable jockey Nico De Boinville.

He has won or shared the top trainer of the Cheltenham Festival nine times. However, if you are a betting man in the trainer market, I wouldn't recommend him as he hasn't managed to win that title since 2012, and the Irish are far too dominant at the moment.

Paul Nicholls

A name who is definitely slipping down the rankings in terms of power is Paul Nicholls.

One of the greatest trainers from the British shores has started to see the number of superstars dwindling at his yard, and this year looks to be a struggle with some relatively average horses turning up for Nicholls, by his standards.

Nicholls did manage to get two winners at the previous Cheltenham Festival, as well as four in the places. In recent years, he has managed to get a few horses to win at a decent price, with Stay Away Fay springing to mind at 18/1 back in 2023 and Monmiral winning at 25/1 in the Pertemps final.

I'd be shocked if he managed to land a Grade 1 win this week, but in the handicaps, he will have a sniff.

Cheltenham Festival 2025 jockeys

Paul Townend

It's no great surprise that Paul Townend kicks off the jockeys list as he is the number one jockey for Mullins and will be on nearly every single one of his hot-shot favourites for the big races.

Townend had to wait around for quite a while to be the main man at Mullins' yard as he had the great Ruby Walsh ahead of him in the pecking order, but that didn't stop him from getting his fair share of Festival winners before becoming the main man.

Townend has managed to rack up 34 wins at the Cheltenham Festival, with some big wins in the Gold Cup. He has managed to win that prestigious race on four different occasions, and a fifth is likely to come.

Jack Kennedy

It's remarkable that Jack Kennedy has managed to get himself fit again after another bad injury, which has so often been the case for him even at his young age.

Kennedy had a fall a few months back but he is turning up to the Cheltenham Festival all fired up and looking for winners, which he can definitely achieve. He is the main jockey for Elliott's stable, so he'll always arrive with some chances of walking away with winners when being attached to the size of a yard like Elliot's.

Kennedy is definitely up there for being one of the best jockeys in the world and definitely the most naturally gifted, but unless you have the horse underneath you, you're going to struggle. Thankfully for him, he has a couple of live chances and he'll want to upset the applecart with Brighterdaysahead in the Champion Hurdle.

Mark Walsh

The man who will have the pressure of carrying the green and gold silks of JP McManus is Mark Walsh, and he is the man for the big occasion.

Walsh had very big shoes to fill when Barry Gerraghty hung up his riding boots, but he hasn't disappointed and he has shown that whenever the money is down from the owner, he delivers nine times out of ten.

Similar comments can be applied to Mark that Kennedy and Townsend have, and that is when such a big operation is backing you, you're going to have plenty of chances to get winners at the spring festivals.

McManus is a big investor of the sport and he has shown he still wants to win the big races, shown by acquiring The New Lion from Darren Yates at a hefty price, rumoured to be north of £700k. That horse looks to have a nice chance in the novice hurdle Grade 1, but Walsh will also have plenty of nice opportunities in the handicaps, which is McManus' bread and butter.

Nico De Boinville

It's hard to get too excited about the British jockeys, as the level of horses compared to the Irish just isn't there at the moment, as the Prestbury Cup has proven in the last ten years or so. However, Nico De Boinville is a name that even casual fans will be aware of, and that's because he has been attached to the Nicky Henderson yard for a long time and has been on all of his recent superstars, like Altior, Shishkin, and Constitution Hill.

De Bournville Nico has a lot of pressure this week as he is on Constitution Hill and has had his problems in the last 12 months and didn't turn up for the Champion Hurdle last year.

Since his return, he hasn't looked like the same horse we saw giving out demolition jobs. His horse is unbeaten and the pressure of keeping that unbeaten run is getting higher and higher, especially with strong vibes being against him for this race.

It's a shame that De Bounville doesn't get the chance to ride Sir Gino in the Arkle who has been electric over fences, but I am sure he will be looking out for other rides outside of the Champion races to get some extra wins.