UK Jump Report: St Patrick’s Thursday 2026, Outsiders Rule as Home By The Lee and Heart Wood Deliver Shocks

Meeting: 2026 Cheltenham Festival, St Patrick’s Thursday | Course: Cheltenham (Prestbury Park) | Date: Thursday 12 March 2026 | Going: Good to Soft

St Patrick’s Thursday at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival was a day that bookmakers will remember fondly. From a 40/1 winner in the opener to a 33/1 winner in the Stayers’ Hurdle, the third day of the Festival produced an extraordinary succession of results against the market, with the late withdrawal of odds-on Ryanair Chase favourite Fact To File further complicating the afternoon for punters who had laid out ante-post bets.

Race 1 (1.20 pm): Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle

White Noise (40/1, Tom Bellamy, Kim Bailey/Mat Nicholls) opened the day with one of the Festival’s most unexpected results. The mare, trained jointly by Kim Bailey and Mat Nicholls, won the Grade 2 mares’ novices’ hurdle with what her trainer described as one of the most remarkable results of his career. Owner John Perriss, who has had horses with Bailey’s yard for nearly 40 years, celebrated a first Festival winner, as did jockey Tom Bellamy.

“I’ve worked my whole life for this day,” Bellamy said. “This tops my whole career, not just this season. I’m nearly crying here. I bunked off school as a kid to come and watch the Cheltenham Festival, and I can’t believe I’m walking around at the top here after winning.”

Bailey’s connection to the meeting stretched back to training Master Oats to win the 1995 Gold Cup, making a return to the Festival’s winners’ enclosure particularly meaningful. Oldschool Outlaw (15/2) finished second, Place de la Nation (28/1) third.

Result: 1. White Noise (40/1, Tom Bellamy, Kim Bailey/Mat Nicholls)

Race 2 (2.00 pm): Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle

Wodhooh won the Mares’ Hurdle, which had been moved to St Patrick’s Thursday and the New Course in 2026 after years on Champion Day. The race was run over a slightly longer distance than in previous editions.

Result: 1. Wodhooh

Race 3 (2.40 pm): BetMGM Handicap Hurdle

Jingko Blue (James Bowen, Nicky Henderson) won by six lengths in the large-field handicap hurdle. The victory gave jockey James Bowen his second Festival winner of the meeting, after Holloway Queen on Tuesday, a first in Festival history for a jockey winning on consecutive days from the opening day. “Plan A went completely out of the window, then B and C!” Bowen said. “I never intended to make the running, but I winged the first and the next thing I was there.”

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

Race 4 (3.20 pm): Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (Golden Miller, Grade 2)

British trainer Ben Pauling saddled Meetmebythesea to win the Grade 2 novices’ limited handicap chase, providing a notable success for British jumping’s domestic ranks.

Result: 1. Meetmebythesea (Ben Pauling)

Race 5 (3.20 pm, moved earlier): Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle / Dan Skelton Handicap

Dan Skelton added a winner to the British column when Supremely West (Harry Skelton) won the Pertemps Final.

Result: 1. Supremely West (Harry Skelton, Dan Skelton)

Race 6 (3.50 pm / swapped): Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle

The feature staying hurdle produced the day’s biggest upset. Home By The Lee (33/1, JJ Slevin, Joseph O’Brien), an 11-year-old gelding that had finished sixth, fifth, third and unseated at the previous four Cheltenham Festivals, finally made his breakthrough at the fifth attempt. The win was received with enormous warmth from the Cheltenham crowd.

In the closing stages, Kabral Du Mathan (Dan Skelton, Harry Skelton) led over the last hurdle and looked set to give British trainers a notable championship success. However, Home By The Lee, driven out resolutely by Slevin, rallied to beat the market’s hope by a length and a quarter. Ballyburn finished third, with last year’s winner Bob Olinger fourth.

Owner-breeder Sean O’Driscoll reflected: “Never give up, that’s the moral of the story. He has the heart of a lion.”

O’Brien added: “He trains every day with enthusiasm and when he’s off, he gets bored. He loves his work, loves his job, loves his racing and has never had a lame step in his life. He’s a superstar.”

The Stayers’ Hurdle result was the second-largest upset of the Festival to that point (behind the 40/1 Mares’ Novices’ winner earlier on the same card). Home By The Lee posted a Timeform timefigure of 152, a figure he had achieved twice previously in his career. Kabral Du Mathan’s effort was ultimately blunted by the demands of a well-run three-mile hurdle.

Result: 1. Home By The Lee (33/1, JJ Slevin, Joseph O’Brien) 2. Ballyburn 3. Bob Olinger, Kabral Du Mathan (led last, weakened)

Race 7 (4.00 pm / swapped to feature slot): Ryanair Chase

After the morning confirmation that Fact To File (Willie Mullins, odds-on) had been withdrawn, the Ryanair Chase was thrown wide open. Heart Wood (9/2, Darragh O’Keeffe, Henry de Bromhead) won by ten lengths from Jonbon (2/1 favourite, Nico de Boinville, Nicky Henderson), whose Cheltenham Festival hoodoo continued. Heart Wood ran to a Timeform timefigure of 165, a significant career best.

De Bromhead said: “We’re delighted to get on the board. It was getting a bit sketchy there I have to admit, but that was brilliant. Darragh was brilliant on him and he jumped amazing.”

Result: 1. Heart Wood (9/2, Darragh O’Keeffe, Henry de Bromhead) 2. Jonbon (2/1F)

Race 8 (5.20 pm): Rosconn Group Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase

Ask Brewster (Cath Williams) was ridden by 19-year-old Irish amateur Shane Cotter in his first ride in England, winning in a dramatic finish to close the day. “I’ve dreamt of this since I was seven or eight,” Cotter said.

Result: 1. Ask Brewster (Shane Cotter, Cath Williams)

Day Summary

Thursday was a day of outsiders and human stories. White Noise (40/1), Home By The Lee (33/1) and Ask Brewster produced collectively one of the most punter-unfriendly days in recent Festival history, while delivering memorable stories for the winners. Going into the final day, the Prestbury Cup stood at Britain 10, Ireland 11.