What is the Prestbury Cup?

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The Prestbury Cup is an annual competition that takes place during the Cheltenham Festival between horse-racing trainers from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Named after the nearby Gloucestershire village of Prestbury, the Prestbury Cup is a tally of who has trained the most winners at each year's Festival between the British and the Irish.

With 28 races at Cheltenham each year, 15 winners is enough to secure the Prestbury Cup.

First launched in 2014, the Britons dominated the first iterations of the light-hearted trophy with five straight wins between 2014 and 2018.

In 2019, the Prestbury Cup ended in a 14-14 draw. But since then, the Irish have won the trophy on seven consecutive occasions thanks in main to Willie Mullins' supreme record at the meeting.

Recent Irish dominance includes the 2021 Festival, where a 23-5 win for the Irish secured the largest winning margin in Prestbury Cup history to date.

In 2025, en route to a 20-8 victory, Ireland won the final day 8-0 that included a Gold Cup victory.

It was much closer in 2026, however, with Henry De Bromhead's Air Of Entitlement sealing a 15-13 win for Ireland in the final race of the meeting, when a victory would have earned Great Britain a draw.

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Who won the Prestbury Cup?

Willie Mullins celebratingImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Ireland's Willie Mullins is a 12-time leading trainer at the Cheltenham Festival

  • 2026 - Great Britain 13-15 Republic of Ireland

  • 2025 - Great Britain 8-20 Republic of Ireland

  • 2024 - Great Britain 9-18 Republic of Ireland (reduced to 27 races)

  • 2023 - Great Britain 10-18 Republic of Ireland

  • 2022 - Great Britain 10-18 Republic of Ireland

  • 2021 - Great Britain 5-23 Republic of Ireland

  • 2020 - Great Britain 10-17 Republic of Ireland

  • 2019 - Great Britain 14-14 Republic of Ireland

  • 2018 - Great Britain 17-11 Republic of Ireland

  • 2017 - Great Britain 19-9 Republic of Ireland

  • 2016 - Great Britain 15-13 Republic of Ireland

  • 2015 - Great Britain 14-13 Republic of Ireland

  • 2014 - Great Britain 15-12 Republic of Ireland

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

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