The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase rarely disappoints, and this year’s renewal has all the ingredients of being another cracker.
With 14 runners lining up at 3:20pm on Wednesday of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, and the defending champion Stumptown squaring off against the resurgent Favori De Champdou, this looks more like a chess match over banks and ditches than a straightforward handicap.
Run over 3m5½f and 31 assorted obstacles on the in-and-out cross country circuit, this Class 2 limited handicap is again worth just over £39,000 to the winner and will be staged on ground officially described as good to soft.
It is a thorough test of stamina, jumping rhythm, and adaptability, and the course knowledge angle is often as important as raw ability.
Irish yards hold their usual strong hand, with Gavin Cromwell, Gordon Elliott, and others dominating the entries and looking to keep the prize at home once more.
The 2025 winner, Stumptown, returns to defend his crown, while January’s course-and-distance cross country winner, Favori De Champdou, arrives with momentum and a growing fan club after a wide-margin success here.
2026 Glenfarclas Odds
*Odds from Betfred correct at time of publishing
| Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Favori De Champdou | Jack Kennedy | G Elliott | 9/4 |
| Stumptown | Keith Donoghue | G P Cromwell | 3/1 |
| Desertmore House | Ricky Doyle | M Brassil | 9/2 |
| Final Orders | Conor Stone-Walsh | G P Cromwell | 13/2 |
| Vanillier | Sean Flanagan | G P Cromwell | 8/1 |
| Fakir D’Oudairies | Darragh O’Keeffe | E Bolger | 14/1 |
| The Goffer | Josh Williamson | G Elliott | 14/1 |
| Pied Piper | Sam Ewing | G Elliott | 20/1 |
| Conflated | Danny Gilligan | G Elliott | 28/1 |
| Latenightpass | Miss Gina Andrews | T Ellis | 40/1 |
| Velvet Elvis | G Sheehan | J C McConnell | 50/1 |
| Famous Bridge | Sean Quinlan | N G Richards | 50/1 |
| Horantzau D’airy | Charlie Hammond | S Edmunds | 66/1 |
| Minella Crooner | James Best | Mrs S J Humphrey | 125/1 |
Primary Contenders
Stumptown has become something of a Cheltenham specialist, having found a new lease of life over these fences and then landing last year’s Festival Cross Country with a strong late run under Keith Donoghue.
He defied top weight in 2025 and again showed his appetite for the place in cross country handicaps, and he turns up this time as a nine‑year‑old with another big weight but bags of course experience.
Favori De Champdou, a hardy 11‑year‑old, has taken to this discipline in a way that might make you forgive his age.
He fell here in December but clearly learned from it, returning in January to absolutely boss the rescheduled Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap from the front off 12 stone, winning by about eight and a half lengths and evoking inevitable Tiger Roll comparisons.
With Jack Kennedy again booked and Gordon Elliott eyeing yet another Festival cross-country success, he is a very serious threat to the champion.
Among the supporting cast, Desertmore House has quietly built a solid staying profile and arrives on the back of a sequence that includes cross-country form, while Final Orders, also from Cromwell, brings solid course experience and the right sort of grinding style that often pays dividends late on.
Vanillier and The Goffer were both involved in last year’s finish behind Stumptown, adding further depth and a reassuring sense that we’ve seen a lot of these faces before over these same peculiar obstacles.
Stumptown vs Favori
This does feel like a straight fight between the defending champion and the coming force of the division.
Stumptown’s case is built on tried-and-tested course form: he has multiple wins at Cheltenham, including a pre‑Festival cross country success and last year’s Glenfarclas triumph, and he clearly thrives on the demands of this track.
He also won the Velka Pardubicka, one of the world’s most difficult races, and his style is to get into a rhythm, travel within himself and then stay on powerfully late.
Favori De Champdou, on the other hand, arrives as the form horse of the season despite being 11-years-old, having powered away to win January’s cross country handicap by a wide margin under top weight.
He showed he can dictate from an early stage, measure his jumps, and then gradually turn the screw, which makes him dangerous if allowed an easy time in front again.
If you want to be picky, Favori’s earlier fall over these fences is a small niggle, while Stumptown’s hefty weight and the cumulative mileage of cross-country efforts are his obvious vulnerabilities.
Neither has an entirely bombproof profile, but they both tick more boxes than most in here.
Who Looks Most Likely To Win?
On balance, Stumptown sets a very high standard as a previous winner who continues to run well in this sphere, and there is no sign that his enthusiasm for the game has dimmed.
He knows every twist and turn of this track and should once again be finishing strongly if he gets anything like a clear passage.
However, Favori De Champdou’s January demolition job is hard to ignore, and if you believe that run is the new normal rather than a one‑off, he probably has a touch more upside at this exact point in time.
A repeat of that front‑running display would make him very hard to pass, especially if the ground stays no worse than good to soft and he jumps with the same fluency.
For those looking beyond the obvious in the 2026 Glenfarclas, Desertmore House makes some appeal as a solid staying option who could keep on into the frame at a bigger price, while Final Orders and The Goffer offer bits of course and Festival form that lend themselves to place claims rather than strong win confidence.
If the principals underperform or get involved in a duel too far from home, one of that trio could be the one quietly picking up the pieces late.
The Making Of A Champion
Cross country races can turn messy, but this year’s Glenfarclas has the rare look of a contest that is both unpredictable and strangely straightforward at the same time.
The obvious pair of Stumptown and Favori De Champdou, have the clearest claims on paper, and it would be no surprise if they end up eyeballing each other after the last, with the others trying to stay in touch.
If you like proven Festival class and a horse that knows exactly where the winning line is around here, siding with Stumptown makes plenty of sense.
If you prefer the idea of a seasoned chaser discovering a second career over banks and barrels, then Favori De Champdou is the one to row in with, age and all.
Either way, it should be a fascinating watch, and, with a bit of luck, one where your carefully chosen selection remembers to turn at the canal turn, keep jumping, and only start celebrating after the 31st fence.
BETFRED
