How many Cheltenham Festival winners has Paul Townend ridden?

Willie Mullins’ stable jockey Paul Townend is set to add at least another few to his growing tally of Cheltenham Festival winners – but how many has he ridden in total?

Townend has worked for Mullins since he was a teenager, starting out as an apprentice on the flat before transitioning to the jumps and beginning a decorated career over obstacles that began with his first winner in 2008.

A six-time Irish Champion Jockey, Townend enjoys an illustrious book of rides at the major festivals each year and Cheltenham is where the elite separate themselves from the good – with each jockey trying to make a name for themselves on the biggest stage.

Luckily for Townend, he boasts an impressive record at Prestbury Park and his performances over the years see him regarded as one of the greats.

How many Cheltenham Festival winners has Paul Townend ridden?

Townend has ridden 34 Cheltenham Festival winners. That puts him third in the all-time list, behind only Ruby Walsh (58) and Barry Geraghty (43) – but ahead of AP McCoy who tallied 31.

His first festival winner came in the form of the Arthur Moore-trained What A Charm in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle in 2011, a 9/1 shot on the day who won by a neck.

Later that season, Townend became Irish Champion Jockey for the first time at the age of just 20.

WATCH: Paul Townend’s first Cheltenham Festival winner on What A Charm in the 2011 Fred Winter

What A Charm – Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle 2011#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/ojYC32FdPe

— Cheltenham Festival Fans (@cheltfestfans) January 2, 2025

26 of Townend’s 34 Cheltenham Festival winners have come in Grade 1s:

• 4x Gold Cup – Al Boum Photo (2019, 2020), Galopin Des Champs (2023, 2024)
• 2x Champion Chase – Energumene (2022, 2023)
• 1x Champion Hurdle – State Man (2024)
• 3x Arkle Challenge Trophy – Duc des Genievres (2019), El Fabiolo (2023), Gaelic Warrior (2024)
• 1x Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase – Monkfish (2021)
• 1x Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Appreciate It (2021)
• 3x Turners Novices’ Hurdle – Sir Gerhard (2022), Impaire Et e (2023), Ballyburn (2024)
• 1x Champion Bumper – Ferny Hollow (2020)
• 2x Mares’ Hurdle – Glens Melody (2015), Lossiemouth (2024)
• 2x Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle – Penhill (2017), Monkfish (2020)
• 1x Stayers’ Hurdle – Penhill (2018)
• 3x Triumph Hurdle – Burning Victory (2020), Vauban (2022), Lossiemouth (2023)
• 2x Ryanair Chase – Min (2020), Allaho (2022)

In March 2019, Townend steered Al Boum Photo to victory in the Gold Cup to give Mullins his first win in the race. The next year, Al Boum Photo went back-to-back to become the first since Best Mate in 2004 to achieve the feat.

WATCH: Paul Townend’s first Cheltenham Gold Cup winner on Al Boum Photo in 2019

After SIX seconds in the race, the moment @WillieMullinsNH won the 2019 @MagnersUK Cheltenham Gold Cup with Al Boum Photo…#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/M6ak4xNSCx

— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 15, 2019

Townend and Mullins will aim to go one better in 2025 as Galopin Des Champs eyes a third consecutive Gold Cup crown. If successful, Townend will become the winnningest pilot in Cheltenham Gold Cup history, suring Pat Taaffe who won four in the 1960s.

No horse has won three consecutive Gold Cups since Best Mate from 2002 to 2004, but Galopin Des Champs looks primed to draw level and there’s every chance he could come back in 2026 and win a fourth.

WATCH: Galopin Des Champs wins second consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2024

A look at 12 moments from 2024 on Racing TV:

📅 March – A second Gold Cup triumph for Galopin Des Champs

Does a third win in Jump Racing’s Blue Riband event await in 2025? pic.twitter.com/DZRMBhceFw

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) December 31, 2024

Paul Townend’s most successful Cheltenham Festival races are the Gold Cup and County Hurdle

Townend has tallied four winners in each the Gold Cup and County Hurdle. Those are the Cheltenham Festival races he’s enjoyed the most success in, followed by the Arkle, Turners Novices’ Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle with three apiece.

As per the best horse racing betting sites in the UK, Townend’s most successful festival race is likely to be the Gold Cup after the curtain closes in 2025 with Galopin Des Champs trading as a general 1/2 shot for the feature race on Friday.

You can’t rule him out of adding a fifth County Hurdle either though – as Mullins holds a number of intriguing entries in the race including last year’s winner Absurde (Townend’s only handicap ride of the 2024 festival) as well as Triumph Hurdle runner-up Kargese.

Perhaps his highest profile win in the race came aboard State Man in 2022, who later went on to win eight Grade 1s including a Champion Hurdle at the festival in 2024.

WATCH: Paul Townend wins the 2022 County Hurdle on State Man

💛🖤 State Man makes a mockery of the County Hurdle

He travels like a dream & surges to success to complete a quickfire double for @WillieMullinsNH & @PTownend

Punters in clover at @CheltenhamRaces #TheFestival pic.twitter.com/q9y3BjmI61

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 18, 2022

Paul Townend is the long odds-on favourite to win a fifth Top Jockey title at the Cheltenham Festival

Townend has landed each of the last three Cheltenham Festival top jockey crowns in 2022, 2023, and 2024. He won the award for the first time in 2020.

Last year, Townend recorded a career-high six wins at the festival. He holds plenty of good chances in 2025 as reigning Cheltenham Festival top trainer Mullins again sends over a typically strong team.

Paul Townend’s best Cheltenham hopes 2025

• Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Kopek Des Bordes
• Mares’ Hurdle – Jade De Grugy
• Champion Hurdle – Lossiemouth/State Man
• Turners Novices’ Hurdle – Final Demand
• Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase – Ballyburn
• Champion Chase – Energumene
• Champion Bumper – Gameofinches/Copacabana
• Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle – Maughreen
• Ryanair Chase – Gaelic Warrior
• Triumph Hurdle – Lady Vega Allen
• County Hurdle – Absurde/Ethical Diamond
• Mares’ Chase – Allegorie De Vassy
• Gold Cup – Galopin Des Champs