Champion Bumper Trends For The 2026 Cheltenham Festival
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2026 Cheltenham Champion Bumper Trends
The last 10 winners:
- Won last time out - that includes all bar five placed finishers too
- If they had run at Cheltenham before, they had won
- Had finished in the first three on a left-handed track, nine had won
- Had won on a track described as 'galloping' or 'undulating'
- Were aged five or six; four-year-olds are 0/24 in the last 10 years
Nine of the last 10 winners:
- Last ran at least 32 days ago (exception Ferny Hollow, 18 days)
- Had run in at least two bumpers (Jasmin De Vaux ran once)
- Had never finished out of the first three (Fayonagh, eighth on debut)
Eight of the last 10 winners:
- Had run on both left-handed and right-handed tracks (Facile Vega, Jasmin De Vaux)
- Were trained in Ireland, including the last seven. Horses trained in Ireland have won 25 of this race's 33 renewals.
- Won at single figure odds (Relegate 25/1, Ferny Hollow 11/1)
- Were not favourite for the race (Facile Vega, Envoi Allen)
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Key Trials in the Last 10 Years
The Cheltenham Champion Bumper winner can come from anywhere at all, as long as they are good enough, so keep an eye on all decent bumpers run in January and February on left-handed, testing courses; particularly Leopardstown, Cheltenham, and Newbury, but also right-handed tracks such as Ascot and Fairyhouse.
One race to watch out for in particular is the Listed bumper at Navan in December as Gordon Elliott trained the winner of that in 2019 and 2020 and both went on to win the following year's Champion Bumper. He also saddled the winner in 2021, who finished second at Cheltenham.
Elliott also won the Listed Navan bumper race in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and saddled the runner-up in 2019. His 2016 winner was the mighty Samcro, but he didn't land the race this season.
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Trainer Trends
- Willie Mullins has won 14 Champion Bumpers and six of the last eight. As ever, he appears to have a strong hand in 2026, though does appear to be lacking a standout fancied one.
- Gordon Elliott is becoming a big player too. From 16 runners, he's saddled two winners, two seconds and two thirds.
- Irish trainers have a tremendous record in this race on the whole, winning 25 times in the race's 33-year history.
Jockey Trends
- Amateur riders based in Ireland have won six of the last eight editions.
- Jamie Codd had only had four rides in the race in his career, all for Gordon Elliott, but they yielded two wins, a second and a third. Following his retirement, Harry Swan tends to pick up the plum Elliott bumper rides.
How did the trends do last year?
The trends certainly narrowed the field in the Champion Bumper last year, pointing towards Bambino Fever, who won, and Copacabana who finished 10th.
Irish trainers dominated the finish, with the first three home all trained in Ireland. The two placed horses were huge prices and would have really gone against the grain, trends-wise.
Bambino Fever, trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins and ridden by an amateur jockey, was not hard to find at odds of 4/1.
2025 Cheltenham Champion Bumper Result
| Position | Name | Price | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | bambino fever | 4/1 | Willie Mullins | jane townend |
| 2nd | heads up | 33/1 | john mcconnell | sean bowen |
| 3rd | shuttle diplomacy | 66/1 | thomas cooper | donagh meyler |
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Who Fits The Trends Best In 2026?
The majority of the field in this year's Champion Bumper will have won their previous race and will be aged either five or six, so we'll need to go a little deeper into the trends to find the winner.
Love Sign d'Aunou shot to the top of the Champion Bumper betting after winning at Naas in January. If he's to follow up at the Cheltenham Festival, he'll be bucking some major trends. With just one run under his belt, he lacks the required experience. Though stablemate Jasmin De Vaux was successful in this race a couple of years ago with a similar prep.
It's best to rule out the likes of Bass Hunter and Mets Ta Ceinture. Being trained in the UK, they're up against it, if previous Champion Bumpers are anything to go by.
There isn't a horse that ticks every box, given the lack of experience for those at the top of the betting, meaning either the price or number of bumper starts will need to be ignored. The Irish Avatar looks to be the one the trends point towards.
A winner of a bumper at Navan (galloping and undulating track), he's expected to be a single-figure price. Whether or not he goes off favourite will depend on jockey bookings. He's the right age and trained by Willie Mullins, so there's a huge amount in his favour.
2026 Champion Bumper Odds
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