Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey to be welcomed home to Co Carlow

Sarah Slater

A Co Carlow village is once again preparing to welcome home the Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning horse, Gaelic Warrior and jockey Paul Townend.

Gaelic Warrior’s stablemates, Lossiemouth, the Champion Hurdle Challenge winner and II Etait Temps, the Queen Mother Champion winner, along with the five-time Gold Cup winning jockey and trainer Willie Mullins, will be given a hero’s welcome in the village of Leighlinbridge on Wednesday.

Townend is now out on his own as the only rider to win five Gold Cups, just one more than Pat Taaffe, who steered Arkle to all three of his victories in the 1960s.

Hundreds of people are expected to descend on the village to catch a glimpse of the Closutton based trainer and the winning horses from last week’s four day racing festival.

The festivities get underway at 5pm from the Lord Bagenal Inn.

Mullins, too joined Townend as he became a five-time winning Gold Cup trainer last week thanks to Gaelic Warrior, joining Tom Dreaper, Arkle's trainer, as the co-holder of the all-time record.

The Co Carlow-based trainer has also won the Grand National three times first with Hedgehunter in 2005, followed with I Am Maximus in 2024, and then last year.

Mullins is the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, with over 120 winners. He has been crowned Irish National Hunt Champion Trainer 19 times as of March this year.

The trainer has dominated the Irish championship, winning every year since the 2008/2009 season and has been British Champion Trainer twice in the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 seasons.

Twelve months ago English Grand National champion Nick Rockett was paraded through the same village as part of Mullins’ multi winning stable yard.