The Paddy Power Gold Cup has been the centrepiece of Cheltenham’s November Meeting since 1960, and it has always rewarded the yards that can get a handicap chaser sharp for the first big test of the jumps season. Anyone looking at horse betting on the race soon notices that a handful of trainers have won it again and again. One of them is so far clear of the rest that the record looks safe for years to come.
Martin Pipe: eight wins
Martin Pipe won the race eight times between 1987 and 2005. His first came with Beau Ranger in 1987, when it was still the Mackeson Gold Cup. His last came with Our Vic in 2005, months before he retired. Across those 18 years, the race ran under four different sponsors: Mackeson, Murphy’s, Thomas Pink and Paddy Power. Pipe won under all of them.
Challenger du Luc gave him his second win in 1996, and then the yard took control. Pipe won four of the five runnings from 1998 to 2002: Cyfor Malta in 1998, Lady Cricket in 2000, Shooting Light in 2001 and Cyfor Malta again in 2002. The only break was The Outback Way for Venetia Williams in 1999.
Tony McCoy rode three of those winners on his way to a record four wins as a jockey in the race. Cyfor Malta is one of five horses to have won it twice, and the only one with four years between his victories. Barry Geraghty rode him the second time.
Pipe then finished with back-to-back wins. Celestial Gold took the 2004 running and Our Vic followed in 2005, both ridden by Timmy Murphy.
The trainers on four
Three trainers share second place with four wins each, half of Pipe’s total.
Fred Rimell won four in a row from 1968 to 1971 with Jupiter Boy, Gay Trip, Chatham and Gay Trip again. That is still the longest winning run any trainer has put together in the race. Pipe’s best was three straight, from 2000 to 2002.
Nigel Twiston-Davies spread his four across 25 years. Tipping Tim won in 1992, Imperial Commander in 2008, Little Josh in 2010 and Splash Of Ginge in 2017. Imperial Commander went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2010, and Little Josh was ridden by the trainer’s son, Sam Twiston-Davies.
Paul Nicholls has the strongest recent record of the three. Al Ferof won for him in 2012 and Caid Du Berlais in 2014, before Stage Star and Il Ridoto gave him consecutive wins in 2023 and 2024.
The Pipe yard since 2005
The family name did not disappear when Martin Pipe stepped down. His son David took over the licence at Pond House in 2006 and won with Great Endeavour in 2011, with Timmy Murphy riding once more. That gives the stable nine wins under two trainers.
Behind the leaders, Jonjo O’Neill and Fred Winter have three wins each. O’Neill won with Exotic Dancer in 2006, Johns Spirit in 2013 and Taquin Du Seuil in 2016. Winter’s came with Fifty Dollars More in 1982 and Half Free in 1984 and 1985.
Can anyone catch Martin Pipe?
Nicholls is the obvious candidate, and two wins in the last three runnings show his yard still knows how to target the race. He would still need four more just to draw level. Dan Skelton is a newer name on the roll of honour, after Panic Attack won the 2025 running under his brother Harry.
Pipe’s eighth win came 21 years ago, and in that time no trainer has finished with more than four.