Check out our Prestbury Cup review as we look back on another Cheltenham Festival full of drama.
What is the Prestbury Cup?
One of the biggest stories during each Cheltenham Festival is the rivalry between the best trainers and horses from Ireland against the best from Britain.
To mark this rivalry, the Prestbury Cup was inaugurated in 2014, and the trophy would be awarded to the jurisdiction which trained the most winners across the four-day festival at Cheltenham. There are 28 races across the week and so the first country to win 15 takes home the cup.
The competition is named after the nearest village to Cheltenham Racecourse
2025 Prestbury Cup Review
Tuesday
The moment of Tuesday was when British trainer Jeremy Scott trained the winner of the Champion Hurdle at odds of 25/1 to finish nine lengths ahead of second placed Burdett Road with 1/2 favourite Constitution Hill for WP Mullins falling when four out.
That shock victory made for a competitive day of the Prestbury Cup with Britain winning out 4-3 on the opening day of the festival.
Wednesday
The second day of Cheltenham was headlined by a poignant winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase Marine Nationale coming eighteen lengths ahead of short-priced favourite Jonbon. A fitting winner given how the horse was the one which put the late Michael O’Sullivan on the map following his Handicap Hurdle success at the Festival in 2023.
The Irish roared back in the Prestbury Cup and following day two the standings were now Ireland winning 9-5.
Thursday
The third day of Cheltenham brought us one of the most impressive performances of the week when Fact To File followed up his win in the Brown Advisory last year with a success in the Ryanair Chase.
Ireland took the races on Thursday 4-3 which meant that they held a 13-8 lead going into the final day.
Friday
The story of final day was another WP Mullins training victory, but not the type of one we’ve come to expect with four-year-old Poniros ridden by jockey Jonjo O'Neill Jr for owner Tony Bloom winning at an incredible odds of 100/1!
Finally, any faint hopes of Britain making a final day comeback, were put emphatically to bed with Ireland winning all seven races on the final day to cap off a 20-8 Prestbury Cup victory their best result since their 23-5 win in 2021.
Ireland v Britain Head-To-Head Results & Stats
All-Time Head-To-Head Record
Ireland wins: 9
Britain wins: 2
Draws: 1
Previous Prestbury Cup Results
Year | Ireland | Britain |
|---|---|---|
2025 | 20 | 8 |
2024 | 18 | 9 |
2023 | 18 | 10 |
2022 | 18 | 10 |
2021 | 23 | 5 |
2020 | 17 | 10 |
2019 | 14 | 14 |
2018 | 17 | 11 |
2017 | 19 | 9 |
2016 | 15 | 13 |
2015 | 13 | 14 |
2014 | 12 | 15 |
Trends
Since the Prestbury Cup began in 2014 Ireland has won 204 times at Cheltenham Festival which is an average of 18.54 winners per meeting, Britain has had 128 winners which is an average of 11.63 per meeting.
Ireland’s best year in the Prestbury Cup was in 2021 when they won 23-5 and their worst was in 2014 when they lost 12-15 with the reverse being true for Britain.
The only ever drawn Prestbury Cup was in 2019 when it finished 14-14.
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