Cheltenham Day 4 predictions: Tips for Gold Cup Day

🕐 Cheltenham day 4 race schedule

The final day of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival is an excellent one, with three Grade 1 races scheduled on the card. The feature race is the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup at 4pm and you can find the full race card below. 

Cheltenham Festival day 4 predictions and tips: The runners and riders

The big event on Friday is the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is one of the most prestigious races of the year. Galopin Des Champs is bidding to become just the fifth horse to win the blue riband three or more times and he’s certainly at the right age as a nine-year-old, bearing in mind that no winners this century have been 10 or older. 

Each of Corbetts Cross, Monty’s Star, Banbridge and Inothewayurthinkin are running in the race for the first time and it’s worth noting that race debutants don’t have the strongest record, with just two first-time winners this century. 

Galopin Des Champs is an odds-on favourite at the time of writing and the omens are good, with four of the last five winners being the market leader, but there’s no such thing as a certainty in horse racing!

In the Triumph Hurdle, the two market leaders are British-trained, but it would be folly to ignore the 11 (eleven!) Willie Mullins runners, seeing as the master of Closutton has won four of the last five renewals. 

Should the money pour in for either East India Dock or Lulamba to the point they go odds-on, show caution, only one odds-on jolly has won the Triumph ever - Attivo in 1974!

Finally, keep an eye on the Irish-trained runners in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, seeing as the trophy has gone back to the Emerald Isle in five of the last six years! Looking for some in-depth Cheltenham festival day 4 predictions? We have put together our best bets for you below. 

Finally, keep an eye on the Irish-trained runners in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, seeing as the trophy has gone back to the Emerald Isle in five of the last six years! Looking for some in-depth Cheltenham Gold Cup Day tips? We have put together our best bets for you below, along with Cheltenham betting offers and free bets from our favourite horse racing betting sites.

#1 - Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup Steeplechase at 4/7

It’s impossible to oppose the indomitable GALOPIN DES CHAMPS, who is bidding for his own little slice of history by winning this for a third time. The nine-year-old was faultless when winning this by three-and-a-half lengths in soft ground 12 months ago and to put it simply, he will be very hard to stop if in the same mood here. 

Willie Mullins’ charge rather needed the run when third on reappearance at Punchestown in November, something which isn’t out of the ordinary, and he was far too strong when winning back-to-back Grade 1 contests at Leopardstown the last twice. 

It may not be quite as soft as the previous two years on Friday, though he’s fairly versatile in terms of the ground and ought to prove too strong in this once again – with a fourth festival victory looking rather inevitable. 

With last year’s runner-up Gerri Colombe missing, the biggest threat is undoubtedly the King George VI Chase winner Banbridge. He has stamina to prove, but he took his form to a new level when reeling in Il Est Francais over Christmas and should the ground be on the faster side, he’d be a threat to the favourite. 

Inothewayurthinkin is a short price for next month’s Grand National but he has something to find having been held by the favourite the last twice, while the remainder of the field all have significant amounts to find with Willie Mullins’ superstar.

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