Ladies’ Day at Cheltenham rarely disappoints. Wednesday’s second day of the 2026 Festival was no exception, and for anyone holding Willie Mullins’ runners, the afternoon was extraordinary.
Mullins won three of the four Grade 1 races on the card, Paul Townend rode his 40th Festival winner, and the Queen Mother Champion Chase produced one of the most dominant performances the race has seen in years. Here is our breakdown of the day’s key results.
13:20 — Turners Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
Winner: King Rasko Grey (11/1, Willie Mullins / Paul Townend)
King Rasko Grey opened the Grade 1 programme at a generous price and gave Paul Townend a landmark moment, his 40th winner at the Cheltenham Festival. Townend has operated at the very highest level across multiple Festival campaigns, and this milestone reflects an exceptional career at the meeting.
At 11/1, the winner returned a price that will have caught some observers by surprise, highlighting the depth of the novice hurdle division and the difficulty of predicting outcomes even when one stable dominates.
14:00 — Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
Winner: Kitzbuhel (11/1, Willie Mullins / Harry Cobden)
Mullins followed up immediately in the Brown Advisory, with Kitzbuhel, again sent off at double-figure odds, landing the Grade 1 novice chase. Harry Cobden was prominent throughout, with Final Demand finishing in second place.
Two Grade 1 wins at 11/1 underscored a recurring theme of this Festival: the Mullins stable’s strength in depth means that even their shorter-priced horses are being beaten by their own longer-priced stablemates.
16:00 — Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1) — Feature Race
Winner: Il Etait Temps (7/1, Willie Mullins / Paul Townend)
The feature race of the day, and arguably of the entire week beyond Gold Cup Day, produced a performance of genuine quality. Il Etait Temps, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden again by Paul Townend, won by 10 lengths from Libberty Hunter.
A 10-length winning margin in the Champion Chase is not a routine result. This is a race that produces tight finishes, multiple Grade 1 horses, and genuine depth each year. To win it with that authority is a statement from a horse operating at the top of the two-mile chasing division.
The Mullins / Townend combination had now delivered two Grade 1 winners on the day. The afternoon was taking on a historic dimension.
17:50 — Champion Bumper (Grade 1)
Winner: The Mourne Rambler (15/2, Noel Meade / Colin Keane)
In a day dominated by Mullins, the Champion Bumper provided a different story. Noel Meade and Colin Keane combined to land the closing Grade 1 with The Mourne Rambler at 15/2.
For Meade, this was his seventh Festival winner, his first since Jeff Kidder in 2021. The significance of a trainer of his standing returning to the Festival winner’s enclosure after five years was not lost on those watching.
Colin Keane, Ireland’s champion flat jockey, made the rare transition to the jumping stage to partner the winner. His first Festival success was a landmark moment in a career already defined by achievement on the flat.
The Day in Data
Willie Mullins: 3 Grade 1 wins from 4 (King Rasko Grey 11/1, Kitzbuhel 11/1, Il Etait Temps 7/1)
Paul Townend: 2 Grade 1 wins (King Rasko Grey, Il Etait Temps), 40th career Festival winner
Notable prices: Two of the four Grade 1s returned at 11/1 — a reminder that even within the dominant stable, market pricing does not always reflect outcome.
Looking Ahead
St Patrick’s Thursday, Day 3 of the 2026 Festival, takes place today with the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1) and the Ryanair Chase (Grade 1) as the centrepiece contests. Cheltenham’s momentum shows no sign of slowing.
Race information sourced from Horse & Hound, The Irish Times, and publicly available form guides. Prices correct at time of writing.
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