Panic Attack has quietly turned herself into one of the season’s most likeable storylines: a 10-year-old mare who keeps finding more, jumping better, and winning bigger, just as the big spring prizes loom into view.
The question is not whether she deserves a place at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, but which race gives her the best chance to send punters home smiling.
Panic Attack is not a flashy, precocious wonder; she is a seasoned, battle‑hardened chaser who has improved with age like a sensible, well-cellared red.
Her recent form card reads like the stuff of dreams with wins in the November Gold Cup at Cheltenham, the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury at the end of the same month, and then a 14‑length stroll in a mares’ chase back at Newbury on January 14th.
Those three wins tell a useful story for learners of the game. She has:
- Proven stamina in big-field handicaps over extended trips.
- The class to carry her mark into graded territory against better rivals.
- The neat, efficient jumping technique that is gold dust around Cheltenham’s fences.
At 10, she is not “unexposed” in the fashionable Festival ante‑post betting sense, but her current streak suggests she has found her ideal job in life just in time for the Festival.
Skelton Team
Dan Skelton has become one of the most reliable operators in British jumping, especially in the middle-distance chase division, where carefully‑planned handicap campaigns often morph into Grade 1 tilts.
He is adept at placing horses to build confidence and ratings step by step, which fits Panic Attack’s winter trajectory perfectly.
The family angle helps too. Harry Skelton knows his brother’s horses inside out and rides with a blend of positivity and patience that suits a bold-jumping mare who enjoys bowling along.
In the latest Newbury win, he let her stride on, measured the fences for her, and then quietly disappeared from the others after the 14th as if someone had turned off their power supply.
From a fan’s viewpoint, that trainer–jockey–horse triangle is part of racing’s appeal.
Followers latch on to these combinations, remember where they’ve been successful, and start planning bets and festival trips around them, which keeps the whole sport feeling like an ongoing series rather than one‑off episodes.
A Soaring Season
This campaign really caught fire with the November Gold Cup success at Cheltenham, a valuable 2½‑mile handicap that often doubles as a springboard to bigger targets.
Two weeks later, she stepped up in trip and in prize money to land the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, completing a handicap double last achieved by Celestial Gold back in 2004 and never before by a mare.
Those victories show three key things that matter when assessing Festival prospects. She handles Cheltenham’s undulations and pressure, having already won there this season.
She stays beyond the intermediate 2½‑mile trip, which is a big plus if the race pace collapses or the ground turns testing; and she thrives in competitive, high‑class company rather than merely picking off soft races on smaller tracks.
The Newbury mares’ chase in mid‑January was different: a small field, a short price, and an almost schooling‑in‑public feel as she cruised home by 14 lengths.
Far from being a hollow victory, it confirmed she can dominate mares of her own sex when conditions are in her favour, which is exactly the angle that leads into the Mares’ Chase debate.
Ryanair Chase: Glamour, Glory…And Sharks
The Ryanair Chase is a Grade 1 run over about 2 miles 4½ furlongs on the New Course at Cheltenham, with 17 fences and a roll of honour full of serious horses.
It is designed for top-class chasers who are too quick for the staying trip of the Gold Cup but too strong for the pure two-milers, making it a specialist’s race.
This year, Panic Attack would be dipping into deep waters. The likely opposition includes names such as Fact To File, Gaelic Warrior, and Jango Baie, horses with lofty ratings, Grade 1 experience, and reputations that attract plenty of support.
Her ante‑post price of roughly 22/1 tells a fairly honest tale: respected, in form, but far from the most likely winner if all the big guns show up and run their race.
For the student of betting, this is a great case study in balancing romance and realism. Yes, a thriving mare stepping out of handicaps into a Grade 1 is an appealing narrative, and each‑way players might be tempted by double‑figure odds.
But in hard, value‑driven terms, she would need another sizeable step forward just to make the frame against that kind of opposition, and there is not much forgiveness in a Ryanair field if you make one mistake at speed.
Mares’ Chase: The Logical “Banker” Spot
The Mares’ Chase, run over a similar intermediate trip at the Festival, exists precisely to give top mares their own stage rather than forcing them to take on the boys every time.
Panic Attack’s most likely rivals there look less intimidating on paper, with names such as Spindleberry and Dinoblue carrying solid but not frightening profiles.
Her ante‑post odds around 8/1 reflect a horse much closer to the top of the market and far more likely to be a key player.
Everything about her current profile fits the Mares’ Chase template neatly. With proven stamina and jumping over similar or longer trips, she has a clear class edge over run‑of‑the‑mill mares, as shown by that Newbury procession in January.
She also has connections who are realistic planners rather than dreamers, and who know that Festival winners keep owners, punters, and racegoers coming back for more.
The Festival Banker?
So, is Panic Attack the “bank of the Festival”? That phrase is always dangerous in a sport where a bad jump can undo a season’s work, but if forced to pick a race where her chance of winning is maximised, the Mares’ Chase clearly comes out ahead of the Ryanair.
The Ryanair would be the bold, romantic call. The Mares’ Chase is the sensible, value‑conscious choice that teaches newer fans an important lesson: the smartest bets are often found where the race suits the horse, not where the prestige shines brightest.
