What is the Prestbury Cup?

The Prestbury Cup is an annual competition that takes place during the Cheltenham Festival between horse-racing trainers from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Named after the nearby Gloucestershire village of Prestbury, the Prestbury Cup is a tally of who has trained the most winners at each year's Festival between the British and the Irish.

With 28 races at Cheltenham each year, 15 winners is enough to secure the Prestbury Cup.

First launched in 2014, the Britons dominated the first iterations of the light-hearted trophy with five straight wins between 2014 and 2018.

In 2019, the Prestbury Cup ended in a 14-14 draw. But since then, the Irish have won the trophy on six consecutive occasions thanks in main to Willie Mullins' supreme record at the meeting.

But Great Britain will hope to win the back the Prestbury Cup this year for their first outright win in eight years. At the end of day three at the 2026 Festival, the score is 11-10 in Ireland's favour.

Recent Irish dominance includes the 2021 Festival, where a 23-5 win for the Irish secured the largest winning margin in Prestbury Cup history to date.

In 2025, en route to a 20-8 victory, Ireland won the final day 8-0 that included a Gold Cup victory.

At the end of the Festival, the Prestbury Cup is handed out to the winning nation.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.