Gavin Cromwell
{{short description|Irish racehorse trainer}}
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Gavin Cromwell (born 29 September 1974) is an Irish dual-purpose racehorse trainer. He has won multiple Grade 1 races, including the 2025 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Background
Cromwell comes from Ardcath, County Meath, where his grandfather and uncle trained horses.{{cite web|url=https://meathlive.net/2023/11/27/exclusive-gavin-cromwell-the-man-behind-the-horses/|title=Exclusive; Gavin Cromwell the man behind the horses|access-date=4 April 2025|work=Meath Live}}{{cite web|url=https://irishtractor.ie/gavins-a-shoe-in-for-racing-success/|title=Gavin's a 'shoe-in' for racing success|date=15 August 2017|work=Irish Tractor}} Originally hoping to become a jockey, Cromwell worked in yards in Ireland, Newmarket and Australia, before returning to Ireland to start a four-year farrier apprenticeship. He took out a trainer's licence in 2005, while continuing to work as a farrier until he became established.
Career as a trainer
Cromwell sent out his first winner from his Danestown yard in April 2007, when Dodder Walk won a handicap hurdle at Cork.
{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/news/features/interviews/gavin-cromwell-cheltenham-is-the-olympics-of-jump-racing-if-you-have-a-good-one-you-hate-to-miss-it-a0O9W1b8BKIq/|title=Gavin Cromwell: 'Cheltenham is the Olympics of jump racing - if you have a good one, you hate to miss it'|date=29 September 2024|work=Racing Post}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hri.ie/statistics/trainer/data/?tid=10265|title=Gavin Cromwell|access-date=4 April 2024|work=Horse Racing Ireland}} He achieved his first Grade 1 success when Jer's Girl won the Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final at Fairyhouse in March 2016. His first success at the Cheltenham Festival came in 2019, when Espoir d'Allen won the Champion Hurdle. When Inothewayurthinkin, owned by J. P. McManus and ridden by Mark Walsh, won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2025, it was the trainer's eighth victory at the Festival.
Although better known as a National Hunt trainer, Cromwell also trains horses to run on the flat and is one of the few trainers to have had winners at both the Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot, where his first winner was Quick Suzy in the Grade 2 Queen Mary Stakes.
Personal life
Cromwell is married to Kiva, with whom he has three children.{{cite web|url=https://www.theirishfield.ie/racing/inside-racing/the-big-interview-gavin-cromwell-439337|title=The Big Interview: Gavin Cromwell|date=8 February 2019|work=The Irish Field}}
Cheltenham Festival winners (8)
- Cheltenham Gold Cup - (1) Inothewayurthinkin (2025)
- Champion Hurdle - (1) Espoir d'Allen (2019)
- Stayers' Hurdle - (2) Flooring Porter (2021, 2022)
- Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle - (1) Vanillier (2021)
- Liberthine Mares' Chase - (1) Limerick Lace (2024)
- Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup - (1) Inothewayurthinkin (2024)
- Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase - (1) Stumptown (2025)
Other major wins
{{flagicon|Ireland}} Ireland
- Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final - (1) Jer's Girl (2016)
- Tattersalls Ireland Champion Novice Hurdle - (1) Jer's Girl (2016)
- Christmas Hurdle - (1) Flooring Porter (2020)
- Spring Juvenile Hurdle - (1) Hello Neighbour (2025)
{{flagicon|UK}} Great Britain
- Mildmay Novices' Chase - (1) Inothewayurthinkin (2024)
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Irish racehorse trainers