Ryanair Chase Tips

Get our Ryanair Chase tips below for the second of the Championship races on Thursday at Cheltenham Festival.

Plus the latest odds, a runner by runner preview of the race, all the best free bets and offers, and more...

Our tip for the Ryanair Chase will be published on Wednesday 11th March in the afternoon, along with a full writeup.

The Ryanair Chase may have only been added to the Cheltenham schedule in 2005, but it has quickly become a popular betting heat. High-quality winners of the race include Protektorat, Envoi Allen, and Cue Card, while last year’s victor Fact To File could be among the leading contenders for the 2026 Gold Cup.

Fact To File has been the long-time market leader to repeat his success from 12 months ago, but the nine-year-old could yet be supplemented for the feature on Friday following a dominant win in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Banbridge ran a stormer to finish second in the King George on Boxing Day, but Joseph O’Brien’s star has run below that standard on his two previous attempts at Cheltenham, including when seventh of nine in last year’s Gold Cup.

Should Fact To File be supplemented for the Gold Cup, it’s likely that Willie Mullins’ Gaelic Warrior could head in the opposite direction. The eight-year-old was five lengths behind his stablemate in the Irish Gold Cup, but has winning form over shorter trips, landing the Arkle at the Festival in 2024.

Serial Grade One-winner Jonbon will likely step up in trip to compete in this year’s Ryanair, and showed his staying class after battling to beat Thistle Ask by three lengths in the Clarence House in January. However, his form figures of 2-2-2 at the Festival would be a concern.

Heart Wood could be the improving contender for the Henry De Bromhead stable, having won twice from three starts this season, including a dominant eight-length win over Ile Atlantique in the New Year’s Day Chase at Tramore.

The latest Ryanair Chase odds from Betfair are:

• Fact To File - 4/5
• Gaelic Warrior - 1/1
• Jonbon - 4/1
• Impaire Et Passe - 6/1
• Romeo Coolio - 6/1
• Jango Baie - 7/1
• Banbridge - 8/1
• Heart Wood - 8/1
• Il Etait Temps - 10/1
• Firefox - 14/1
• Panic Attack - 14/1
• Envoi Allen - 20/1
• Found A Fifty - 20/1
• Protektorat - 20/1
• Jagwar - 25/1
• Matata - 25/1
• JPR One - 25/1
• Solness - 33/1
• 40/1 bar

Betfair are Non Runner No Bet, explaining the short odds for multiple runners.

Last updated at 4pm on 18th February 2026.

Stats and trends can be used to narrow down the field in this year’s Ryanair Chase. Some of the key pointers can be found below:

• Aged 7-9 (12/12)
• Avoid Last Time Out Winners (4/12)
• Respect Horses With Cheltenham Experience (12/12)
• Horse Rated 162+ (11/12)
• Horses With 4+ Wins Over Fences (10/12)

We've collected the best Ryanair Chase free bets, enhanced customer offers, extra places, money back specials, and more below.

Updated daily throughout Cheltenham Festival.

Tuesday - Champion Hurdle Tips

Wednesday - Champion Chase Tips

Thursday - Stayers Hurdle Tips & Ryanair Chase Tips

Friday - Cheltenham Gold Cup Tips

After just one winning favourite on Wednesday, and none in the first three of the day, Fact To File was the punters pick in the betting ring to get one back at the bookmakers.

There was also money around for the French horse and King George runner up Il Est Francais, and for old boy and 2024 winner Protektorat, who were sent off as 10/3 second favourite and 5/1 third favourite respectively.

The running was initially picked up by Jungle Boogie, with the three horses at the top of the market pulling slightly clear of the rest of the pack in an effort to stay out of trouble.

Il Est Francais came through on the final lap to take up the running. Pushing the pace, the race became increasingly strung out, with both Hang In There and Jungle Boogie making jumping mistakes at the 11th before dropping away.

The downhill run towards the final bend saw the race quickly develop into a head to head battle between Il Est Francais and Fact To File, who was still travelling extremely strongly.

Favourite backers didn't have long to worry; a burst of pace coming off the final bend saw him pull clear, and a superb jump at the penultimate fence effectively put the race to bed. He cruised cross the line a huge 9 lengths clear.

Il Est Francais faded after two out and it was Heart Wood who came through to pick up second, with Envoi Allen staying on for a distant third and the last of the places.

As mentioned already, the Ryanair Chase for 2026 is one of the most difficult races to judge in the antepost market due to the sheer quantity of unknowns.

Our tipsters will wait until the final declarations 48 hours before the race before making a firm decision on who to tip, unless they see significant antepost value in the build up.

Once the final field is known, they will take their usual approach of:

• Reviewing and rewatching all runs for the race runners
• Analysing ground conditions and their impact
• Considering pace angles with the finalised field
• Watching market movers
• Reading trainer quotes, stable tours, and so on

Using all this information, plus their experience and tipping knowledge, they will pick out our Ryanair Chase tip and post it on this page. They'll also provide a full writeup, so you can see their reasoning and considerations on not just our selection but all the runners in the race.