Cheltenham Festival 2026: The Handicap Entries Are In - And the Absentees Are Telling

Tuesday's midday deadline for the Cheltenham Festival handicap entries came and went, and as is so often the case at this time of year, the horses who weren't entered told us as much as those who were.

There were over 25 horses that had been trading at short prices in the ante-post handicap markets but were conspicuously absent from the entries. Among them: In My Teens, Minella Study, Novak, Mille Et Une Vies, One Horse Town, North Shore, Three Card Brag, and Spanish Harlem - all names that punters had been backing with confidence in recent weeks.

So, what is going on?

The Wallpark: The Headline Absentee

The biggest surprise was undoubtedly The Wallpark, the JP McManus-owned, Gordon Elliott-trained gelding who had been ante-post favourite for the National Hunt Chase and as short as 4-1 for the Kim Muir Handicap Chase. He was not entered for either. In fact, he was not entered for anything at the Festival at all.

Frank Berry, McManus's racing manager, was characteristically matter-of-fact when speaking to the Racing Post: "He's not going over. Everything is fine with him. There's no real plan at the moment, but he'll run somewhere at home."

When pressed on whether a prohibitive handicap mark had forced the decision, Berry was unequivocal: "No, he was never going over."

It is a fascinating piece of strategy, and one that few saw coming. Both the National Hunt Chase and the Kim Muir are restricted to horses rated 0-145, so the mark was not the issue. What makes the decision all the more striking is the trajectory The Wallpark had been on. A six-time winner over hurdles who finished third in last season's Stayers' Hurdle, he was sent chasing this term. His five runs over fences had been below expectations, but there were genuine signs of improvement when he chased home Oscars Brother in the Grade 2 Ten Up Novice Chase at Navan earlier this month. That run prompted a flood of ante-post support - he had been as big as 40-1 before it - and he was vying for market favouritism in both Festival handicaps when the deadline arrived. To then not be entered for anything leaves a significant hole at the top of two competitive fields.

Minella Study: The Unbeaten Juvenile Who Stayed Home

Minella Study, the unbeaten juvenile trained by Adam Nicol, was another eye-catching omission from the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle entries. He had been available at 12-1 with Coral and Paddy Power in the weeks leading up to the deadline.

The Northumberland-based Nicol has been playing his cards close to his chest all season. Earlier in January, he skipped the bet365 Scottish Triumph Trial at Musselburgh - a race he had long targeted - citing ground concerns and uncertainty over the route forward. "It was partly the ground and partly we haven't quite decided what we want to do," he said at the time. "There was talk of just going straight to Cheltenham but we'll either do Haydock or a gallop. There's nothing wrong with him and the plan is still Cheltenham."

The options he outlined were the Victor Ludorum at Haydock on 14 February or a racecourse gallop at Kelso following the Morebattle Hurdle meeting on 28 February. His absence from the Fred Winter entries now raises the possibility that connections are eyeing a non-handicap route, perhaps the JCB Triumph Hurdle itself, for a horse whose ceiling may be well above his current mark. That would be a bold call, but not an illogical one for a horse who has yet to be beaten.

The Entries That Did Land

The handicap races themselves were well subscribed. The full entry numbers from the Racing Post are as follows:

The Ultima Handicap Chase drew particular interest. Jagwar, another McManus runner trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, was entered as he looks to go back-to-back at the Festival following his win in last year's Plate - stepping up in distance this time around.

Crucially, Myretown - the defending Ultima champion who demolished a field of 24 to win last season's race by eleven lengths - is also among the entries, and his story encapsulates the twists and turns of the pre-Festival period perfectly. Trained by Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore, the nine-year-old had been on a dual Cheltenham-and-Aintree trajectory, entered in the William Hill Half a Mill Grand National Trial at Haydock last Saturday to test his stamina and try to bolster his rating ahead of the Grand National weights. It did not go to plan. Myretown was pulled up by jockey Derek Fox, unable to see out the 3m4½f trip on good to soft ground, and the Grand National dream was swiftly abandoned.

Scudamore was refreshingly direct: "Derek got off at Haydock and said he just didn't stay, and that probably is the case. With the way the ratings fall I couldn't see him getting a National run off the back of that. All being well, we'll now head back to Cheltenham for the Ultima instead." He added: "That is the beauty of it I suppose - there was a question mark going into the Haydock race and we knew we'd find out where we needed to be. Now it looks a lot clearer that Cheltenham should be the main aim."

The Coral Cup attracted 85 entries - eleven fewer than last year - with Graded winners Lucky Place and Potters Charm both among the names. Meanwhile, the County Hurdle includes the 2025 runner-up Ndaawi and the dual-purpose globetrotter Absurde, who finished third last season and is one of eleven Willie Mullins-trained entrants for that race.

In the Jack Richards Novices' Handicap Chase, Paul Nicholls, who won the race last year with subsequent Grade 1 winner Caldwell Potter, could be represented by Regent's Stroll, last seen chasing home Miami Magic at Cheltenham on New Year's Day.

The New 15lb Rule

One factor shaping decisions behind the scenes is the relatively recent rule that prevents horses from running in handicap races from 15lb or more out of the weights. This applies across all Flat and Jump handicaps and adds another layer of calculation for connections weighing up where to pitch their horse. Any runner winning from 22 February onwards will also carry a mandatory 5lb penalty, though this cannot push a horse's weight above 12 stone.

With handicap weights not due to be published until Tuesday 24 February, some trainers may simply be waiting for the handicapper's verdict before committing to any route - which may yet lead to further movement in the market.

The Wider Festival Picture: Fact To File's Gold Cup Absence

The handicap entries were not the only source of intrigue on a busy day for Cheltenham declarations. Over in the Graded races, Fact To File, trained by Willie Mullins and owned by JP McManus, was not entered for the Gold Cup. His sole Festival entry remains the Ryanair Chase, which he won in devastating fashion twelve months ago. A Gold Cup supplementary entry would cost connections £25,000.

The decision was all the more surprising given that Fact To File had just won the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown in imperious style, with jockey Mark Walsh calling him "the complete package." Speaking at a Jockey Club media event ahead of the Irish Gold Cup, Mullins had given every impression that options were being kept open: "I'm just going to get him ready for Cheltenham and if [JP] wants to supplement him for the Champion Chase, I'd say he could run in that."

The commentary below from Emma Nagle and Paddy Flood came when the Graded race entries were first revealed in January and Fact To File's Gold Cup absence was first noted - but the observation remains entirely relevant now. On irishracing.com's Irish Angle podcast, Nagle expressed her surprise: "I was surprised, given Willie normally likes to keep his options fairly open with his horses, but he decided not to put Fact To File in the Gold Cup this year."

Paddy Flood offered a sharper take, referencing a below-par run prior to the Irish Gold Cup that may have informed connections' thinking at the time: "His run the last day was too bad to be true - that race should have suited him. It was slowly run and should have allowed him to quicken, but he was beaten a long way out." Flood suggested this was either an admission that Fact To File lacks Gold Cup credentials, or a calculated move to secure better supplementary odds at a later stage.

It is a subplot that will rumble on until the supplementary deadline.

Romeo Coolio: The Novice in the Ryanair?

Elsewhere, Romeo Coolio, the novice trained by Gordon Elliott, remains entered in the Ryanair Chase - a bold move for a first-season chaser. The gelding is unbeaten in four starts over fences, winning three Grade Ones along the way - the Drinmore at Fairyhouse, the Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, and the Irish Arkle at the Dublin Racing Festival in February - and has been as short as 14-1 for the Ryanair.

The complication for his connections is structural: there is no longer a two-and-a-half-mile Grade One novice chase at Cheltenham, meaning the choices are the Arkle over two miles, the Brown Advisory over three - or, more unusually, stepping straight into open company in the Ryanair. Romeo Coolio has been entered in all three. After the Irish Arkle, Elliott himself acknowledged that stepping up in trip was not out of the question: "I wouldn't be shocked to see him stepping out in trip now. He has three Grade Ones won now so everything else is a bonus."

When the initial Ryanair entries were published back in January, pro pundit Johnny Dineen said bluntly: "I can't understand how it's even being considered. I've actually backed Romeo Coolio for the Arkle - but this isn't pocket talk. I could see the logic behind missing Cheltenham if they think he's a two-and-a-half mile horse, but if they want to go to Cheltenham, there's only one race for him and that's the Arkle."

On the Irish Angle, Johnny Ward was more open-minded: "Romeo Coolio being left in the Ryanair I thought was quite interesting. In racing, people often do things just because that's how they've always been done. You go point-to-pointing, then bumpers, then hurdling, then chasing - even if the horse is a chaser all along. Running a novice in the Ryanair, if it cuts up into a small field, makes sense." Emma Nagle agreed: "I wouldn't be shocked to see Romeo Coolio line up in the Ryanair. He's obviously a serious horse on his day."

What It All Means

Cheltenham entries are as much about what connections don't do as what they do. The Wallpark's complete absence from the Festival is a statement. Minella Study's non-entry for the Fred Winter is a hint at greater ambitions. Fact To File's absence from the Gold Cup is a genuine puzzle. And with handicap weights not published until next Tuesday, the full picture of who ends up where remains far from settled.

The market will adjust. Some of these absentees will resurface in non-handicap targets. Others may skip Cheltenham entirely and head for Aintree or Punchestown. Either way, if you had been backing any of the horses identified as missing from the entries at Oddschecker, you now know the landscape has shifted considerably.

As the saying goes at this time of year: the plot thickens.