Which were the seven Irish-trained winners on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day in 2022?

Friday, March 18, 2022 – the final day of the Cheltenham Festival or, in other words, Cheltenham Gold Cup Day – was a red-letter occasion for Irish trainers, not least Willie Mullins. Following the infamous ‘greenwash’ in 2021, when Ireland won the Prestbury Cup by an record final winning margin of 23-5, Britain trailed by just a single winner, 10-11, heading into the final, feature day of the Festival in 2022. However, any hope of resurgence began to diminish as Irish trainers saddled winner after winner, eventually taking all seven races on the final day to win the Prestbury Cup, for the sixth time in seven years, by a final score of 18-10.

Mullins, who was already top of the all-time list for the Festival, was, once again, a force majuere, even among his countrymen. The Closutton trainer racked up a 1,581/1 five timer on Friday afternoon, thereby taking his total for the meeting to ten winners and, in so doing, breaking his own previous record of eight winners, which he set in 2015 and, since 2018, had shared with compatriot Gordon Elliott.

Much to the delight of punters, Mullins saddled winning favourites in the first two races of the day, namely Vautour in the Triumph Hurdle and State Man in the County Handicap Hurdle. He also took the third race, the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, albeit with 18/1 chance Nice Guy, who was only third-choice of four entries from the yard, but nonetheless ran out a ready, 5-length winner. The Cheltenham Gold Cup itself proved elusive, but Mullins completed his record haul with two more well-backed winners, Billaway in the Hunters’ Chase and Elimay in the Mares’ Chase.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup went the way of impressive 15-length winner A Plus Tard, trained in Co. Waterford by Henry De Bromhead, and victory for Banbridge, trained in Co. Waterford by Joseph O’Brien, in the closing Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle, completed the rout.