The stallions, dams and breeders who have shaped the Cheltenham Festival

There have been 275 races run during the last ten renewals of the Cheltenham Festival, with 135 different stallions represented by at least one winner in that period.

These range from the exceptional to the unheralded, with the roll of honour featuring National Hunt heavyweights like Flemensfirth and Oscar, giants of the Flat such as Galileo and Dubawi, and more obscure names like Evening World and New Frontier.

No sire has had more Cheltenham success in the last ten years than the late, great Ballylinch Stud sire King's Theatre, who has reigned supreme with 12 winners of 13 individual races.

His roll of honour is one of strength in depth over a range of distances and disciplines, with his hurdlers including the star-crossed Brindisi Breeze and the inimitable The New One, while his chasers are headlined by Arkle hero Captain Chris, Ryanair scorers Cue Card and Riverside Theatre and last year's RSA (now Brown Advisory) winner Champ.

He has also supplied the winner of two of the last ten runnings of the cross country chase, with Balthazar King striking in 2012 and 2014.

King's Theatre: source of 12 Cheltenham Festival winners since 2011Credit: Ballylinch Stud

King's Theatre, the son of Sadler's Wells who died in 2011 aged 20, has a handful of chances to further his exemplary Festival record this year, with the Gold Cup-bound Champ spearheading a challenge that also potentially includes Cabaret Queen, Happy Diva, King Of Realms and Minella Encore.

Another son of Sadler's Wells who has proved a prolific source of Cheltenham winners is the late Grange Stud resident Oscar, who has sired nine winners of ten races, including RSA and Gold Cup hero Lord Windermere.

He showcased his versatility on National Hunt racing's biggest stage with Champion Hurdle victor Rock On Ruby joined by Stayers' Hurdle winners Paisley Park and Lisnagar Oscar, while O'Faolains Boy joined Lord Windermere on the RSA roll of honour.

Oscar also looks to hold a strong hand at this year's festival, with Paisley Park and Lisnagar Oscar set to renewal rivalry in the Stayers' Hurdle and The Bosses Oscar having long since looked a prime candidate for the Pertemps Final.

Lisnagar Oscar: the son of Oscar is bidding to retain his Stayers' Hurdle crownCredit: Edward Whitaker

Milan is next with seven winners - including Jezki, Martello Tower and Mall Dini - while Presenting has sired six winners with seven victories between them, most notably the enigmatic Yorkhill, who struck in the Neptune Novices' Hurdle and the following year's Marsh Novices' Chase, and First Lieutenant, who also won what is now the Ballymore.

Overbury Stud's Kayf Tara has been represented by six winners in the last ten years too, with Ballyandy claiming the Champion Bumper, Thistlecrack striking in the Stayers' Hurdle and Blaklion and Special Tiara winning Grade 1 contests over fences in the RSA and Champion Chase.

A trio of stallions have supplied five winners apiece during the previous decade, including Robin Des Champs, who fielded the winner of 12 individual races. They are headed by the mighty Quevega, who won her third David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle in 2011 before landing the following three renewals for good measure.

Quevega: the daughter of Robin Des Champs after winning her sixth David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle in 2014Credit: Edward Whitaker

Robin Des Champs, who began his stallion career at Haras de Saint-Voir before switching to Glenview Stud in 2009, was also responsible for another festival great in three-time winner Vautour (Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Marsh Novices' Chase and Ryanair) and two-time scorers Sir Des Champs and Un Temps Pour Tout.

Others to have supplied five winners over the last ten years are the recently retired Burgage Stud stalwart Shantou, source of talents like Briar Hill and The Storyteller, and Westerner, whose sons include shock Arkle victor Western Warhorse, Stayers' Hurdle scorer Cole Harden and last year's Champion Bumper hero Ferny Hollow.

Another sire who has compiled an impressive festival record is Voix Du Nord, a dual Group 1-winning son of Valanour.

The former Haras de Cercy stallion, who succumbed to a heart attack aged just 12 in 2013, had nothing like the volume of Cheltenham runners that many of his contemporaries had but still managed to sire four Grade 1 festival scorers, namely Taquin Du Seuil (bred by Marc Boudot) and Defi Du Seuil (bred by Catherine Boudot), who took the Marsh in 2014 and 2019 respectively, while the latter also won the 2017 Triumph Hurdle.

Voix Du Nord was also represented by Mares' Hurdle victress Vroum Vroum Mag and ill-fated Champion Hurdle hero Espoir D'Allen. Having enjoyed such sensational results from limited numbers, it is hard not to wonder what Voix Du Nord might have gone on to achieve had he had the opportunity to sire more than just 295 foals from his eight years at stud.

Also registering four winners over the last ten years are Stowaway, who topped 2020's Cheltenham sire standings with two winners (Put The Kettle On and Monkfish) and two thirds, Poliglote, source of Don Poli and Politologue, and Beneficial.

Give a dam

With stallions able to sire hundreds of foals each year and mares able to produce only one offspring every 12 months, it stands to reason that the list of festival-winning dams is much more diverse.

However, there have been some notable examples down the years of mares being represented by more than one Cheltenham winner, names such as Twilight Slave, who bred the brilliant Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup heroine Dawn Run and her sibling Even Dawn, High Board, dam of the Champion Hurdle-winning brothers Morley Street and Granville Again, and Libertina, who produced two-time festival scorer Liberthine and her half-brother Long Run.

Balko Des Flos: the son of Royale Marie returns victorious after victory in the Ryanair Chase in 2018Credit: Patrick McCann

The last decade has seen three more mares join the illustrious list, with Clovis and Florence Bardin's Garde Royale mare Royale Marie responsible for Plate winner Salut Flo and Ryanair scorer Balko Des Flos, while Limetree Stud's Tracker, a daughter of Bustino, bred novice handicap chase winner Irish Cavalier and Marsh Novices' Chase scorer Shattered Love.

Edmond Coleman's Satco mare Satellite Dancer has also bred two Cheltenham winners, RSA Chase and Gold Cup victor Lord Windermere and his Brian Boru half-brother It Came To Pass, who claimed last year's Foxhunter. Moreover, Satellite Dancer was close to notching a famous hat-trick with another of her offspring, Sub Lieutenant, having finished a close second to Un De Sceaux in the 2017 Ryanair Chase.

Despite it being difficult enough to breed one Cheltenham winner, a fairly remarkable 14 breeders can lay claim to having bred two festival scorers during the last ten years.

They are: Bruno Vagne (Envoi Allen and Espoir D'Allen); Douglas Taylor (Final Approach and Samcro); Denis and Teresa Bergin (Flaxen Flare and Moon Racer); Emmanuel Clayeux, who bred Une Artiste in partnership with his father Dominique (who also bred Sir Des Champs), and Al Boum Photo with Jacky Rauch; Gestut Etzean (Don Cossack and Noble Prince); Hubert Honore, who bred Pacha Du Polder in partnership with Pierrick Rouxel and Klassical Dream with Laure Guillaume; Kenneth Parkhill (City Island and Ferny Hollow); Madame Henri Devin (A Plus Tard and Politologue); Catherine Boudot (Defi Du Seuil and Eglantine Du Seuil); Eleanor Hadden (Blow By Blow and More Of That); Noreen McManus (Synchronised and Any Second Now); Mrs Richard Lalor (Chicago Grey and Minella Indo); and Newsells Park Stud (Supasundae and Penhill).

Suffix situation

The Prestbury Cup, the annual challenge between Britain and Ireland for festival winners, has provided something of a subplot to the racing action since it was inaugurated in 2014. There is no breeding equivalent, and a look over results from the last ten years reveals it would have been no sort of contest had there been one.

Horses born in Ireland, and thus bearing the IRE suffix, have won 146 (53 per cent) of the 275 races run over the last ten years, with Britain languishing behind with just 36 (13 per cent) victories in the same timeframe.

Although British jumps breeders' output is dwarfed by that of their Irish counterparts, there is likely to have been a bit of soul searching after the last two festivals yielded just the solitary winner carrying the GB suffix, albeit an important one in the shape of Honeysuckle.

French-breds have proved a far more formidable opponent to the Irish, with 84 winners (31 per cent) during the last decade - an eyecatching result considering the relatively small representation they have fielded.

The other breeding nations to get on the board are Germany and the US with five and four winners respectively (a combined three per cent).

More Cheltenham news:

An Irish banker with a distinctly French flavour

'He was raw but lovely' - Karrie Fanshawe on snapping up Grade 1 hero First Flow

'I may never buy another one like him' - Tattersalls panel preview Cheltenham