Cheltenham day 2: six-day entries

The six-day entries came out for day two of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival on Thursday morning.

We’ve picked out some of the more interesting declarations and absentees for the Wednesday of Cheltenham, including one of last year’s Festival winners that won’t be in action on Wednesday.

Mullins goes solo with Energumene

Willie Mullins still had four runners in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in the previous round of entries but it was confirmed that the champion trainer will now be relying on Energumene for this year’s renewal.

The dual winner of the race (2022 and 2023) was last seen chasing home Jonbon in the Clarence House Chase in January and the six-time Grade 1 winner will be hoping some rain arrives between now and Wednesday if he is to have a chance of reversing that form with the short-priced favourite.

The three that will miss out on Wednesday’s feature event for Mullins include last year’s Arkle winner, Gaelic Warrior, who hasn’t been fully firing this season. The Rich Ricci-owned runner looked in need of a step up in trip at the Dublin Racing Festival when last seen and a largely dry forecast has probably played a big part in Mullins’ decision to skip Wednesday’s engagement with him.

Blood Destiny was another to miss out. He would have been a surprise winner, though, and it was no shock to see El Fabiolo go in another direction after his defeat to 138-rated Senecia (also scratched) at Navan last weekend. Connections are likely to try and freshen him up for either Aintree or Punchestown next month.

From the 11 that remain in the race, last year’s winner, Captain Guinness, looks guaranteed to try to retain his crown but dual Grade 1 winner Solness now looks to be the strongest Irish challenger.

The French raider Il Est Francais retains his place in the line-up but connections have hinted that he’s more likely to run in the Ryanair Chase.

Other absentees from the latest round of entries for the Champion Chase are Banbridge and Jungle Boogie, who both look set to make a tilt at the Gold Cup on Friday, and Djelo, who is likely to feature among the entries for the Ryanair.

Ireland hold the aces in the Brown Advisory

It’s odds-on that the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase will be going the way of Willie Mullins, who has a particularly strong hand with both Ballyburn and Dancing City.

The former will be bidding to follow up his impressive success at the Dublin Racing Festival while Dancing City is on a similarly upward trajectory over the larger obstacles this season after back-to-back wins at Punchestown and Naas (Grade 3).

James Bowen to miss the Festival

In other Cheltenham news, talented young rider James Bowen was dealt a blow on Thursday morning when it was confirmed that he would miss this year’s Festival.

The younger brother of fellow jockey Sean Bowen picked up a lengthy whip ban last week and has failed in his appeal to overturn the decision.

Get €30 in FREE BETS with the bet365 sign up offer: