The Cheltenham Festival is the absolute top of the tree when it comes to the National Hunt season, and to win there once is a mighty achievement, but to win there on multiple occasions is totally special.
Here we list some of the most prolific Cheltenham Festival winners down the years:
Quevega (6 wins)
Quevega’s first win in the Mares’ Hurdle came in 2009, which was actually the inaugural year of the newly devised race being added to the schedule.
In 2014 as a ten-year-old, Quevega set a new Cheltenham Festival record as she raced to an unparalleled sixth consecutive victory in the Mares' Hurdle.
Victory for Quevega that year meant she passed Golden Miller's mark of five Gold Cup wins in the 1930’s.
Golden Miller (5 wins)
Most trainers dream of seeing a horse they train winning the Gold Cup just once, so for Golden Miller to win it five times was simply extraordinary.
Owned by Dorothy Paget, Golden Miller was trained by Basil Briscoe and won the blue riband event at the Cheltenham Festival for the first time in 1932, defending his title every year thereafter until 1936.
Big Buck’s (4 wins)
Big Buck's dominated the World Hurdle from 2009 to 2012. In that period, from unseating in the 2008 Hennessy until bowing out in 2012 due to injury, he won 18 straight races including ten Grade 1’s and four championship races.
Istabraq (4 wins)
The mighty Istabraq won four times at the Cheltenham Festival. The 1997 Royal Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle winner went on to dominate the Champion Hurdle from 1998 to 2000.
Heading into the 2001 Festival, he was still the dominant force in the hurdling division and was odds-on in our ante-post horse racing betting market to land another Champion Hurdle, however cruelly for him, the Festival was cancelled that year due to an outbreak of foot and mouth.
See You Then (3 wins)
Nicky Henderson's See You Then dominated the Champion Hurdle picture from 1985 – 1987.
Bred to be a Group horse on the flat, he excelled over hurdles under the care of Henderson, and thrived when he arrived at Prestbury Park. He actually provided the Seven Barrows handler with his first ever winner at the Festival.
See You Then was well known for having fragile legs but Henderson always managed to get him spot on for each of his Champion Hurdle successes. He was always a popular horse in the sports betting markets too.
