UK Jump Report: Ladies’ Day 2026, Il Etait Temps Claims Champion Chase as Majborough Crumbles

Meeting: 2026 Cheltenham Festival, Ladies’ Day | Course: Cheltenham (Prestbury Park) | Date: Wednesday 11 March 2026 | Going: Good to Soft (some rain overnight from Tuesday)

Ladies’ Day returned to the Cheltenham Festival in 2026 after a seven-year absence, having previously been rebranded as ‘Style Wednesday.’ The reintroduction brought with it the traditional best-dressed competition (with over £10,000 in prizes) and the arrival of Queen Camilla in the Royal Box. On the course itself, four Grade 1 races were the main attraction, with the Queen Mother Champion Chase producing the day’s most dramatic moment when odds-on market leader Majborough imploded under the pressure of Cheltenham’s demanding fences.

Race 1 (1.20 pm): Turners Novices’ Hurdle

King Rasko Grey (Paul Townend, Willie Mullins) won the opening Grade 1, continuing Mullins’ remarkable week. The runner-up was Act Of Innocence (Nico de Boinville, Nicky Henderson), with Zeus Power (JJ Slevin, Joseph O’Brien) third. Paul Townend’s win on King Rasko Grey took his personal Festival winner tally to 40, a landmark at the meeting for the Cork jockey.

Timeform’s Graeme North noted that the Turners, run over two and a half miles, “suggested the British novice hurdlers were a cut above the Irish at around two miles” following the Supreme the previous day, but with an Irish winner on the day, the narrative was more nuanced.

Result: 1. King Rasko Grey (Paul Townend, Willie Mullins) 2. Act Of Innocence 3. Zeus Power

Race 2 (2.00 pm): Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase

Kitzbuhel (11/1, Harry Cobden, Willie Mullins) won the Grade 1 three-mile novices’ chase in impressive front-running fashion, making all from an early stage. Final Demand (Paul Townend, also Mullins) was second, Salver (Caoilin Quinn, Gary & Josh Moore) third. The winning margin was clear, and Harry Cobden’s tactical ride, giving the horse room at his fences while maintaining a pace that denied rivals the opportunity to settle, was highlighted by Total Performance Data as one of the outstanding rides of the week.

Result: 1. Kitzbuhel (11/1, Harry Cobden, Willie Mullins) 2. Final Demand 3. Salver

Race 3 (2.40 pm): BetMGM Cup Handicap Hurdle

Jingko Blue (James Bowen, Nicky Henderson) ran out a six-length winner of the large-field handicap hurdle, providing jockey James Bowen with his second Festival winner after Holloway Queen on Tuesday. Bowen, who had never ridden at Cheltenham before Tuesday, had now won on the opening two days, with his senior brother Sean Bowen also competing at the meeting and yet to score.

“Plan A went completely out of the window,” Bowen said. “I never intended to make the running but I winged the first and the next thing I was there, doing nothing.”

Result: 1. Jingko Blue (James Bowen, Nicky Henderson)

Race 4 (3.20 pm): Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase

The Cross Country Chase produced one of the Festival’s youngest stories. Final Orders (Conor Stone-Walsh, Gavin Cromwell) won the race, but the headline was the jockey: 19-year-old Conor Stone-Walsh celebrated his first Cheltenham Festival winner, having only recently turned professional. His post-race composure impressed observers: his connection to Cromwell’s yard had identified the horse as a likely contender in the preparatory cross-country races through the winter.

Pre-race favourite Stumptown, the Pardubice winner, was not prominent on the day. The result meant the Glenfarclas went to a young jockey rather than the headline act, as has become a regular feature of the race’s history.

Result: 1. Final Orders (Conor Stone-Walsh, Gavin Cromwell)

Race 5 (4.00 pm): BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase

The day’s feature race produced the meeting’s most dramatic reversal of form. Majborough (5/6 favourite, Mark Walsh, Willie Mullins) was sent off as one of the shortest-priced favourites of the entire week, on the back of a brilliant performance in the Dublin Chase. His jumping at Cheltenham, however, was catastrophically poor from an early stage, a succession of errors that compromised his position and his rhythm and ultimately took him out of contention well before the straight.

Il Etait Temps(7/1, Paul Townend, Willie Mullins), stablemate of Majborough, took full advantage. Townend settled him patiently in mid-field before producing a clean, confident challenge in the straight, passing the last in excellent stride and pulling clear for a ten-length victory over 50/1 shot Libberty Hunter (Sean Bowen), who survived a first-fence blunder to take second. Jonbon (Nicky Henderson) was not his usual self and was never a factor.

Mullins reflected in the winner’s enclosure that the result could have gone either way for his yard, but that Townend’s timing and Il Etait Temps’ soundness ultimately made the difference.

Result: 1. Il Etait Temps (7/1, Paul Townend, Willie Mullins) 2. Libberty Hunter (50/1) 3. — Margin: 10 lengths

Race 6 (4.40pm): Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase

Trainer Venetia Williams produced a 66/1 shock in the Festival’s oldest handicap chase when Martator (Charlie Deutsch) won by a nose from last year’s winner Jazzy Matty in a photo finish. Williams, based in Herefordshire, was euphoric: “I’m pretty speechless, partly because I was screaming so much! I just can’t believe it. We could see he was coming and he was on the wide outside, which was always the plan as he’s only a pony. He met the last few on a great stride and winged them.”

It was a first Festival winner for Williams since Master Oats won the Gold Cup in 1995, a wait of 31 years between Festival victories, and one that generated considerable warmth across the afternoon’s coverage.

Result: 1. Martator (66/1, Charlie Deutsch, Venetia Williams)

Race 7 (5.20 pm): Weatherbys Champion Bumper

The Champion Bumper closed Ladies’ Day. The Mourne Rambler (15/2) won from Mets Ta Ceinture (14/1) and Bass Hunter (8/1), a result that went against the shortest-priced favourites and continued the week’s general trend of competitive fields producing unconventional results.

Result: 1. The Mourne Rambler (15/2) 2. Mets Ta Ceinture (14/1) 3. Bass Hunter (8/1)

Day Summary

Ladies’ Day was dominated by Willie Mullins, who won three of the seven races (Turners, Brown Advisory, Champion Chase). Nicky Henderson’s James Bowen partnership provided British highlight with the BetMGM Handicap Hurdle victory, while Venetia Williams’ Grand Annual success with Martator was one of the most emotional moments of the entire meeting. After two days, the Prestbury Cup stood at Britain 8, Ireland 9.