Ryanair Chase 2026 Tips - Pre-season guide and selections
The Ryanair Chase will now headline St Patrick's Day at Cheltenham Festival 2026. Fact To File, the reigning champion, remains a strong contender, focusing on defending the Ryanair title rather than moving to the Gold Cup. Potential challengers include Majborough and Gaelic Warrior, with The Jukebox Man standing out as a promising bet at long odds. His prowess over fences and speed make him a strong candidate for this intermediate trip. With the race shifting to a new time slot, anticipation and excitement are building for this renowned event.
- Pre-season guide and tips for the 2026 Ryanair Chase
- Fact To File tops the early betting, following his emphatic victory in 2025
- The Jukebox Man is our ante-post selection at 33/1
Once known as the unofficial fifth Championship race at the Cheltenham Festival, the Ryanair Chase has been moved to the feature 4:00pm slot on the day three card, replacing the Stayers' Hurdle as the main event on St Patrick's Day.
Here's our ante-post guide to the 2026 Ryanair Chase. In this guide, we'll take a look at the early shape of this season's renewal - looking at the latest odds, covering the prime contenders, before picking out our best ante-post betting tip based on the early odds.
2026 Ryanair Chase Odds
| Name | Odds |
|---|---|
| Fact To File | 5/2 |
| Majborough | 7/1 |
| Il Etait Temps | 12/1 |
| Gaelic Warrior | 14/1 |
| Jonbon | 14/1 |
| Grey Dawning | 16/1 |
| Bar | 20/1 |
π The Defending Champion π
Fact To File proved to be a class above his rivals in the 2025 Ryanair Chase. Willie Mullins abandoned his plan to run Fact To File in the Gold Cup following two defeats at Leopardstown, and Mark Walsh's mount produced a rampant display to beat Heart Wood by nine-and-a-half lengths.
Mullins' then experimented by running his star in the two-mile chase at Punchestown, where Fact To File suffered a 40-length defeat behind Marine Nationale. Willie had mentioned the King George VI Chase as an early-season target, before backtracking in another stable tour, stating that Fact To File's season will be geared around the defence of his Ryanair Chase crown.
π Potential Challengers π
Willie Mullins is also responsible for the next three names in the betting. Majborough looks set to go down the Champion Chase route. Gaelic Warrior seemed to benefit from skipping Cheltenham last season, and Il Etait Temps seems more likely to remain over two miles.
Despite Nicky Henderson stating that he'd like to try Jonbon over longer trips, another tilt at the Champion Chase seems more likely. Jango Baie is being geared up for the King George VI Chase, but last season's Arkle winner could drop back to the intermediate trip at the Cheltenham Festival.
π Outsiders To Watch π
If Grey Dawning doesn't impress in the Betfair Chase again, Gold Cup plans will be shelved for another season and he could easily pop up in the Ryanair Chase. L'Eau Du Sud is another possible challenger for the Skeltons, providing he ups his game between now and the Festival.
Ben Pauling has said that The Jukebox Man is much more likely to end up in the Ryanair Chase than the Gold Cup if he makes it to the Cheltenham Festival, and he's got the quality to run well at this sort of level. Jagwar did nothing but progress in novice handicaps last term, and victory in the Paddy Power Gold Cup could see Oliver Greenhall and Josh Guerriero target this Grade One at the Festival.
Heart Wood finished second to Fact To File last season, and could have more improvement left in his locker. Il Est Francais bombed out from the front in the 2024 Ryanair, but is now trained in England by Tom George, and could now race a little differently.
π΅ Verdict π΅
Fact To File is more than good enough to be competitive in a Gold Cup, but this shorter option certainly seems more suitable. Willie Mullins has said that, if something was to go amiss with Inothewayurthinkin, JP McManus would want his star rerouted to the Gold Cup - but at the moment, Fact To File is Ryanair bound again, and he'll be incredibly hard to beat come March.
As a value bet against the market leader, THE JUKEBOX MAN (33/1) holds plenty of appeal. Ben Pauling's star went close on his only previous start at the Cheltenham Festival, when finishing second to Stellar Story in the 2024 Albert Bartlett.
The Jukebox Man made the ideal start to life over fences last season, jumping well to beat Masaccio in the John Francombe at Newbury. Pauling's star picked up his first Grade One prize with another two-length triumph in the Kauto Star at Kempton over Christmas, after which a small setback forced Pauling to pull up stumps for the season.
Pauling has his budding stable star entered in both the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the Coral Gold Cup, but seems more likely to head to Ascot for the 1965 Chase, before a tilt at the King George VI Chase. Connections have already said that they see The Jukebox Man as more of a Ryanair horse than a Gold Cup contender - presumably because he's very fast over his fences, and may lack the stamina for the Gold Cup trip.
Ben Jones' mount proved last season that he was a classy, progressive chaser and a fine round of jumping from the front in the Ryanair could see The Jukebox Man claim an unlikely victory.
Verdict
The Jukebox Man is our ante-post tip for the 2026 Ryanair Chase.
The Jukebox Man
Ryanair Chase 2026 Early Tips
@33/1 - 5 Units
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