Published on 02/24/2025 15:00:10
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The Cheltenham Festival is the peak of the National Hunt racing season, where legends are made, and dreams are realised. Each year, punters eagerly bet on horse racing and place a race wager, hoping to back a winner, while trainers and jockeys strive to etch their names into history.
As we rapidly approach the 2025 Festival, the question arises: could we witness a first-time winner finally claiming glory at the iconic Prestbury Park?
Well, there are several big names that stand out as strong contenders for that maiden Cheltenham Festival winner. Here we assess them.
Local trainer Fergal O’Brien is based just miles away from Prestbury Park and has saddled almost 50 winners at Cheltenham throughout his career.
However, the Ravenswell boss has yet to taste success at the Festival itself, with his big chance last year—Dysart Enos—lame on the morning of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
She hasn’t hit the same heights this season, with a couple of disappointing efforts, and is 33/1 for the Grade 1 Mares’ Hurdle.
At the time of writing, O’Brien has 12 Cheltenham Festival entries, but the shortest priced is Sixmilebridge in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at 16/1, so he will need to cause an upset.
Another trainer who was potentially denied his first Cheltenham winner 12 months ago, James Owen, looked set to land the Triumph Hurdle last year, only for Burdett Road to be ruled out.
But the dual-purpose handler has another big chance in the race this year with East India Dock, who is the favourite for the Grade 1 juvenile contest ahead of Lulamba.
A two-time winner on the flat, the four-year-old joined Owen from James Fanshawe in October and has made it 3-3 over hurdles—including two Grade 2 wins at Cheltenham.
The Newmarket-based trainer has 11 total entries for this year’s Festival, with the aforementioned Burdett Road the next shortest at 14/1 for the County Handicap Hurdle.
Olly Murphy has been making waves in recent years and is currently sixth in the British Trainers’ Championship with over 100 wins for the campaign and excess of £1.1 million in prize money.
Big wins have come his way at the Grand National Meeting, with Strong Leader winning the Grade 1 Liverpool Hurdle last April, but the Festival’s winner’s enclosure is yet to open its exclusive doors.
Murphy has 16 entries at the time of writing, but none are shorter than 20/1—Resplendent Grey in the Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase.
The Warwickshire-based trainer is currently at the top of his game, though, and it would be no surprise to see him pull off a shock next month.
Going hand-in-hand with Murphy, Sean Bowen is the stable jockey at Warren Chase Stables in Stratford-upon-Avon and is arguably the best rider in the sport right now.
Denied by his good friend, Harry Cobden, in the race for the Jump Jockeys’ Championship last season, Bowen is well on course to claim the trophy for the first time at the end of this campaign.
Given the outsiders we’ve already mentioned, the Welshman might find it difficult to find Festival winners this year for Murphy.
His best chances could come on Haiti Couleurs for Rebecca Curtis or the John McConnell-trained Moon D’Orange, both of whom Bowen has already ridden to victory at Cheltenham this season.
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