Gaelic Warrior has been named both Timeform’s Horse of the Year and Top Chaser following a sensational campaign in 2025/26, headlined by dominant victories in both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Punchestown Gold Cup.
Willie Mullins’ star performer achieved a Timeform rating of 180 for his 26-length rout of Fact To File in the Punchestown Gold Cup, cementing his position at the top of the chasing division and putting him just 1lb short of the peak rating of two-time Gold Cup winner Galopin des Champs.
Gaelic Warrior proved himself equally effective around Cheltenham, producing one of the most commanding victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup seen in recent years.
Assistant trainer to Willie Mullins and leading amateur rider, Patrick Mullins said:
“It was a fabulous campaign for Gaelic Warrior. He danced every dance, starting in the John Durkan. It was such a uniquely-run, mesmerising race, a proper Grade 1 with so much depth to it.
“For him to bolt away and go 25 lengths clear, get caught and then fight back. We were wondering if that would leave a mark on him, but he’s gone to the King George and got involved in a titanic tussle where four finished in a row. He demolished them in the Gold Cup before putting in a spell binding performance at Punchestown. He has an iron constitution; I’ve never ridden a horse with such strength and power - he’s just fabulous.
“I’ve always said it was like wrestling a tame bear; you know he’s tame but he’s still a bear. When the gallop went very heavy at home over Christmas, he was the only horse pulling double going around and it’s clear that he just loves it. I rode him out the Monday after he won the Gold Cup and he was bucking and kicking. I’m just delighted to be associated with him in any way.”
Lossiemouth collected a double accolade after being named both Timeform’s Top Hurdler and Top Mare following another outstanding season for the Closutton star.
The Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old enhanced her reputation as the leading hurdler in training with a dominant victory in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, earning her a Timeform rating of 162.
Mullins said: “She’s one of those horses that is just sound; they turn up, and they might get beat, but they come back again and have great resilience. It’s amazing to think that she still has a good few years ahead of her.”
Kopek Des Bordes was awarded the title of Timeform’s Top Novice Chaser despite a haphazard debut season over fences.
Kopek Des Bordes achieved a Timeform rating of 163p, with the ‘p’ highlighting the potential for even more improvement as he gains experience at the highest level, seeing him top the ratings in the division.
He was hit with an injury setback following his impressive chase debut, before jumping errors saw him come undone at Cheltenham and Punchestown.
Despite this, he was rated the leading novice as Timeform’s handicappers took the view that, under different circumstances, he’d have won both those spring Grade 1 prizes rather than none. And Patrick Mullins highlighted him as one to be very excited about next season as he steps into open company.
Mullins said: “Kopek Des Bordes put in a very good debut, but we were on the back foot with him from then. To go to the Arkle with him after one run, and after an interrupted preparation, I thought he ran a fabulous race.
“I know you can look at the mistake at the last fence - if he had jumped that normally, he probably would have won. But, if you look at the first two fences, to jump them the way he did and still be in the position he was at the last, it shows the enormous ability that he has.
“What happened at Punchestown was strange but that is what novice chasers can do, I think he got caught between doing two things and ended up doing nothing.
“He’s come out of the race alright and is definitely going to be very exciting next year.”
Old Park Star was crowned Timeform’s Top Novice Hurdler after his Supreme Novices’ Hurdle victory saw him record a Timeform rating of 157p.
He emulated other Nicky Henderson-trained stars Shishkin and Constitution Hill with his victory in the race and could yet be another top-notch talent to emerge from Seven Barrows.
Trainer Jamie Snowden was the recipient of Timeform’s Special Recognition Award following a landmark season for the Lambourn-based handler.
Breaking the million-pound prize money barrier for the first time, he enhanced his best tally of winners to 86, highlighted by his Grade 1 success at the Cheltenham Festival with Johnny’s Jury in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.
And, perhaps most impressively of all, Snowden had the highest strike-rate of any trainer in the top 100 of the Trainers’ Championship, with an average rating above 100 across his string highlighting the growing quality in his yard.
For the third year running, the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown at the Dublin Racing Festival was the Race of the Season – judged on the average Timeform master rating of the first three home.
Mullins dominated the field, fielding eight of the dozen runners, including the first three in the betting, in a bid to win it for the fifteenth time. They were also the first three home, but not in the expected order, with Galopin Des Champs in third, and younger stablemates Fact To File and ‘Horse of the Year’ Gaelic Warrior fighting out the finish.
Fact To File turned the tables on Gaelic Warrior from the John Durkan and went with much more fluency, pulling five lengths clear of Gaelic Warrior.
2026 Timeform Award winners:
Horse of the Year
Gaelic Warrior - 180
Top Chaser
Gaelic Warrior - 180
Top Hurdler
Lossiemouth - 162
Top Mare
Lossiemouth - 162
Top Novice Chaser
Kopek Des Bordes – 163p
Top Novice Hurdler
Old Park Star – 157p
Special Recognition Award
Jamie Snowden
Race of the Year
Irish Gold Cup
182 Night Nurse
180 Istabraq, Monksfield
179 Persian War
178 Comedy of Errors
177 Lanzarote, Limestone Lad, Constitution Hill
176 Birds Nest, Bula, Faugheen, Golden Cygnet
175 Baracouda, Gaye Brief, Salmon Spray, Sea Pigeon
212 Arkle
210 Flyingbolt
192p Sprinter Sacre
191 Kauto Star, Mill House
187 Desert Orchid
186 Dunkirk
184 Burrough Hill Lad, Moscow Flyer, Long Run
183 Don Cossack, Master Oats
182 Azertyuiop, Best Mate, Captain Christy, Douvan, Carvill's Hill, Kicking King, See More Business, Well Chief