Queens Gamble

The Cheltenham factor is worth pausing on. Cheltenham is the most demanding, most celebrated jumping track in Britain — the place where reputations are made and pretenders are found out. Queens Gamble has won there twice from four visits, a 50% win rate at a track where most horses never win at all. The first of those wins came in April 2022, in a Class 2 race, and the second followed just months later at Class 1. For an eight-year-old, that early track record at Cheltenham was a serious statement.

The horse is trained by Harry Derham at Upper Lambourn in Berkshire, and the yard has been in fine form this season — 59 winners and counting. Jonathan Burke rides Queens Gamble most often, and the pair have a remarkable partnership: four wins from eight races together, meaning they win exactly half the time they team up. That kind of consistency between horse and jockey is rare and tends to be a sign of genuine trust built over time.

One other detail stands out. Queens Gamble has raced four times on normal, standard ground and won all four. Every single one. Trainers and jockeys talk endlessly about horses needing the right conditions, but Queens Gamble removes all the guesswork — if the ground is normal, this horse performs. The most recent win came at Wincanton on 14 February 2026, a Class 1 success that keeps the record ticking over, though the last few runs have been mixed, including a disappointing ninth and sixth in there. At eight years old, Queens Gamble is not getting younger, but the big-race record, the Cheltenham affinity, and a yard firing on all cylinders suggest this horse still has something to say.