The age-old battle between Ireland and the UK reignites in an hour as the Cheltenham Festival gets underway with the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
The 2025 Cheltenham Festival promises to deliver plenty of drama and that will be the case as Ireland and the UK go head-to-head for the most trained winners.
The Prestbury Cup has been dominated by Ireland in recent years and Day 1 looks set to be a promising start to their defence with Kopek Des Bordes, Lossiemouth, Majborough and Constitution Hill all expected to win their respective races.
But what does the data say? Here at oddschecker, we've been delving into the archives to see how you have been betting on Irish and British horses over the last five years.
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Ireland vs UK: Bets for British Horses at Four-Year High Ahead of Supreme Novices'
We've examined all the ante-post data since 2020 to bring you all you need to know about the Cheltenham Festival.
As to be expected, the betting has been swinging towards Irish horses since 2020, with a high of 73% of bets on the Grade 1 races going on Irish horses.
The 2020 Cheltenham Festival saw the closest split of the last five editions of the Presbury Cup, with 53% of bets going on Irish horses and 47% on British for the Grade 1 races.
However, there has been a recover this year from British horses, who were as low as 27% in 2023 but is now up to 33% of the ante-post betting for Grade 1 races.
Champion Hurdle and Arkle See Brit Betting Joy
Two of the biggest races on Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival are the Champion Hurdle and the Arkle Chase.
While Willie Mullins-trained Constitution Hill is the 4/6 favourite to take the Champion Hurdle and Majborough, trained by the Irishman, expected to win the Arkle, oddschecker bettors are seeing things slightly differently.
According to our data, more betslips have been placed on British horses for both mega Grade 1 races.
A massive 67% of bets have sided with British horses for the Champion Hurdle to the 23% Irish.
The British horses hold a narrower lead over Irish horses in the Arkle with 53% of bets on ante-post racing going to UK-trained horses with 47% on Irish.
It's all to play for at Cheltenham Festival and while we expect Ireland to retain the Prestbury Cup, nothing is ever guaranteed!
