How Many Cheltenham Festival Winners Has Nicky Henderson Trained Heading Into 2025?

As we draw nearer to the best four days of jumps racing of the season, we take a look at how many Cheltenham Festival winners Nicky Henderson has trained over the years.

Nicky Henderson Has Trained 73 Cheltenham Festival Winners, With His First Coming In 1985

Trainer Nicky Henderson and the horse racing fan’s lives.

This is becuase the Seven Barrows handler has been firing in the winners at the biggest jumps meeting in the world for the last 38 years – he’s totalling 73 to date and is certainly not finished yet.

Henderson is readying another strong Festival team ahead of the 2025 meeting, which gets going on Tuesday 11th March, and after drawing a blank at the fixture last season, he’ll be keen to get back on the Cheltenham scoresheet.

With the likes of Constitution Hill (Champion Hurdle), Jonbon (Champion Chase) and Lulamba (Triumph Hurdle) he’s second only to Willie Mullins with the best horse racing betting sites in the UK to be crowned top Festival trainers.

While, 22 of these 73 Nicky Henderson-trained Cheltenham Festival winners have come in the last 10 years.

Henderson has also been crowned top trained at the Festival three times since 2000 – these came in 2000 (4 winners), 2010 (3 winners) and 2012 (7 winners).

Only Willie Mullins Has Trained More Cheltenham Festival Winners Than Nicky Henderson

Prior to 2014, Nicky Henderson had walked around for many a year with the tag – trainer with the most Cheltenham Festival winners.

Even his main rival in the UK – Paul Nicholls wasn’t really making a dent in the Hendo tally, with 15 winners in the last 10 years and 49 in total.

However, there was a new kid of the block from Ireland – a certain Willie Mullins.

Yes, Mullins fired in his first Cheltenham Festival winner in 1995, but it’s been over the last 10 Festivals that the Closutton man has super-charged his winners at the meeting.

Racking up an incredible 70 winners – almost as much as Henderson in total – in just the last 10 years.

This boost will see Willie Mullins head to the 2025 Cheltenham Festival with 103 last winners, which is 30 more than Henderson’s tally of 73.

Best Cheltenham Festival Trainers

Nicky Henderson’s First Cheltenham Festival Winners Came In 1985

You have to go back to 1985, when a fresh-faced Nicky Henderson was aged just 35, to find his first Cheltenham Festival winners.

That year, his most famous success was See You Then – who landed the first of his three Champion Hurdles (watch below), under jockey Steve Smith-Eccles.

While in 1985 Henderson also added First Bout to win the Triumph Hurdle and The Tsarevick, who landed the Plate.

Henderson Drew A Blank At The Cheltenham Festival In 2024 – The First Time Since 2008

Only last year Henderson’s string were under a bit of a cloud, so he pulled stumps on several of his ‘big guns’ – including Jonbon and Sir Gino – having only a handful of Cheltenham runners.

As a result, Hendo drew a blank at the 2024 Festival – the first time this has happened since 2008.

Nicky Henderson’s Best Cheltenham Festival Race Is The Champion Hurdle With NINE Wins

We’ve already mentioned See You Then being Nicky Henderson’s first Festival winner back in 1985 – when winning the Champion Hurdle – but with another eight successes in this day one feature, this has been his best race at the meeting.

See You Then added two more Champion Hurdles in 1986 and 1987, but Henderson had to wait 22 years for his next, which was Punjabi in 2009.

Other Champion Hurdle wins followed for Binocular (2010) Buveur d’Air (2017 and 2018), Epatante (2020) and most recently in 2023 with Constitution Hill (watch below).

Constitution Hill missed the race in 2024, but is back this season and the best betting sites in the UK make him the warm favourite to become the first horse since Hurricane Fly in 2013 to regain his Champion Hurdle crown.

Nicky Henderson’s Champion Hurdle Winners

Are There Any Current Cheltenham Festival Races Nicky Henderson HASN’T Won?

Yes, in short there are.

As it stands Nicky Henderson hasn’t won the National Hunt Chase, Cross Country Chase, Weatherbys Champion Bumper and Ryanair Mares’ Hurdle.

But in his defence – he hasn’t had many runners in these races over the years.

Of that quartet of blank races, he could break his Cross County Chase duck with Mister Coffey in the top half of the market.

Nicky Henderson Has Won EVERY Cheltenham Festival Championship Race

The other accolade that Nicky Henderson has managed over his 35 years of Cheltenham Festival winners is that he’s won ALL of the main Championship races at least once.

As mentioned, he’s fired in nine winners in the Champion Hurdle – the day one feature.

But has also won the Queen Mother Champion Chase six times, the Stayers’ Hurdle and Ryanair Chase twice each.

While the biggest race of the lot at the meeting – The Cheltenham Gold Cup – has fallen to Nicky Henderson twice in the past with Long Run in 2011 and Bobs Worth in 2013.

Nicky Henderson Cheltenham Festival Championship Race Wins

Henderson Has Won The Grand Annual Chase, The Race Named After His Father, Twice

The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase is a Festival race each year that Nicky Henderson loves to win – as it’s named after his late father.

However, it’s easier said than done as this is one of the most competitive handicaps at the meeting – last year in 2024 there were 16 runners in the race.

But the good news is that Henderson has managed to win the Grand Annual a few times in the past.

The first came in 2006 with Greenhope and the more recent in 2012 with Bellvano – under a cool ride from Paul Carberry (watch below) and also leading hope a Henderson 1-2 in the race with Tanks For That taking the silver.

Every Nicky Henderson Cheltenham Festival Winner (73 In Total)

Main Nicky Henderson Cheltenham Festival Runners 2025

How Old Is Nicky Henderson?

Nicky Henderson will head into the 2025 Cheltenham Festival aged 74, with his next birthday on December 10th.

He was born in 1950, while his date of birth gives him a star sign Sagittarius.