The Cheltenham Festival is right around the corner and alongside the Gold Cup, there is another coveted trophy you will hear plenty about throughout the week: the Prestbury Cup.
Unlike trophies handed out after each race, the battle for the Prestbury Cup goes on from the first race until the last, making it one of only a few competitions that is contested place throughout the four days of action.
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Prestbury Cup 2026 score
All the action gets under way on Tuesday as the runners exit the parade ring for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
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What is the Prestbury Cup?
Named after the nearby Gloucester village of Prestbury, the Prestbury Cup is contested between horses trained in Great Britain and those in the Republic of Ireland. It was officially launched in 2014.
The good-natured competition is won by the side that finishes the Festival with the most winners. With there being 28 races across the four days, 14 is the magic number for a Prestbury Cup win.
The winners are handed the trophy at the end of the week, although the victor is usually decided before the Festival’s last race.
Who are the holders of the Prestbury Cup?
The Irish have dominated at Cheltenham in recent years and 2025 brought more of the same — Ireland strolled to a 20-8 triumph with Willie Mullins being responsible for 10 winners himself.
To make matters worse for the British trainers, Gavin Cromwell’s Inothewayurthinkin took the Gold Cup as Ireland won the final day 8-0 after what was a close-run contest across the first three days of the Festival.
What are previous winners of the Prestbury Cup?
British trainers had the first taste of success in the opening two official Prestbury Cups, beating Ireland 15-12 in 2014 and 14-13 a year later.
Ireland then bounced back with a hat trick of triumphs from 2016 to 2018 which included a record 19-9 win in 2017.
We saw our first and only Prestbury Cup draw in 2019, with the trophy shared at 14 race wins apiece.
Since then, though, it has been tough for British trainers, with Ireland winning six consecutive Prestbury Cups — most convincingly taking the 2021 edition 23-5.
Could this be the year that the green and gold tide finally turns?
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2025: British 8-20 Irish
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2024: British 9-18 Irish (Cross Country chase abandoned in 2024)
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2023: British 10-18 Irish
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2022: British 10-18 Irish
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2021: British 5-23 Irish
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2020: British 10-17 Irish
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2019: British 14-14 Irish
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2018: British 17-11 Irish
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2017: British 19-9 Irish
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2016: British 15-13 Irish
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2015: British 14-13 Irish
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2014: British 15-12 Irish
Who are the favourites to win the Prestbury Cup this year?
It probably comes as no surprise that with Ireland dominant in the previous six years and winning in nine of the last 10, Mullins and Co. are favourites to win their 10th Prestbury Cup.
British riders will hope to get off to a good start with Nicky Henderson’s Old Park Star among the favourites in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, while in The Jukebox Man, there is a realistic British shot at the Gold Cup on Friday.
Overall, though, Ireland winning the Prestbury Cup again this year fetches odds as low as 1/6 with most bookmakers, so it would be a shock if Britain were to claim a first triumph since 2015.
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