Cheltenham Gold Cup
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The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race in the United Kingdom for five-year-old and above horses run over a distance of 3 miles 2½ furlongs (5,331 metres) at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. There are twenty-two fences to be jumped in the race.
It was first run in 1924, and is the most prestigious chase in the United Kingdom.
The most successful horse in Gold Cup history was Golden Miller, who won five times from 1932. Three other horses have won the race three times consecutively - Cottage Rake in 1948-1950, Arkle in 1964-1966 and Best Mate in 2002-2004.
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[edit] Trivia
- 1952 Mont Tremblant was owned by Dorothy Paget, who was winning the race for the seventh time (five with Golden Miller) - the most successful owner.
- 1966 Arkle's third victory came at odds of 1/10 - the shortest-priced winner of the race.
- 1968 Fort Leney provided Tom Dreaper with his fifth win in the race - the most successful trainer.
- 1973 Pendil was the odds-on favourite. He was called the winner coming to the final fence by Peter O'Sullevan. However, The Dikler rallied on the flat and just won. The next year he was again odds-on favourite and was unluckily brought down three from home. His was ridden by current racing pundit Richard Pitman.
- 1979 Tied Cottage fell at the last fence when just leading Alverton. The next year he passed the post first only to be disqualified much later due to a drugs infringement.
- 1983 The first five horses home were trained by Michael Dickinson. In order these were Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House.
- 1986 Dawn Run became the only horse to have won both the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
- 1990 Norton's Coin, the only Welsh-trained winner, is also the longest-priced winner of the race, with odds of 100/1.
- 1991 Five of the horses who took part won the race sometime during their career. These were previous winners Desert Orchid and Norton's Coin, future champions The Fellow and Cool Ground as well as the actual race winner Garrison Savannah.
- 1994 The Fellow is the only Gold Cup winner to be trained in France.
- 1995 Kim Bailey and Norman Williamson, with Alderbrook and Master Oats, are the latest of five trainer/jockey combinations to win the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup in the same year.
[edit] Winners
- Amateur jockeys indicated by "Mr".
| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer |
| 1924 | Red Splash | 5 | Dick Rees | Fred Withington |
| 1925 | Ballinode | 9 | Ted Leader | Frank Morgan |
| 1926 | Koko | 8 | Tim Hamey | Alfred Bickley |
| 1927 | Thrown In | 11 | Mr Hugh Grosvenor | Owen Anthony |
| 1928 | Patron Saint | 5 | Dick Rees | Stanley Harrison |
| 1929 | Easter Hero | 9 | Dick Rees | Jack Anthony |
| 1930 | Easter Hero | 10 | Tommy Cullinan | Jack Anthony |
| 1931 race cancelled because of persistent frost | ||||
| 1932 | Golden Miller | 5 | Ted Leader | Basil Briscoe |
| 1933 | Golden Miller | 6 | Billy Stott | Basil Briscoe |
| 1934 | Golden Miller | 7 | Gerry Wilson | Basil Briscoe |
| 1935 | Golden Miller | 8 | Gerry Wilson | Basil Briscoe |
| 1936 | Golden Miller | 9 | Evan Williams | Owen Anthony |
| 1937 race cancelled because of flooding | ||||
| 1938 | Morse Code | 9 | Danny Morgan | Ivor Anthony |
| 1939 | Brendan's Cottage | 9 | George Owen | George Beeby |
| 1940 | Roman Hackle | 7 | Evan Williams | Owen Anthony |
| 1941 | Poet Prince | 9 | Roger Burford | Ivor Anthony |
| 1942 | Médoc II | 8 | Frenchie Nicholson | Reg Hobbs |
| 1943 & 1944 races cancelled because of World War II | ||||
| 1945 | Red Rower | 11 | Davy Jones | Lord Stalbridge |
| 1946 | Prince Regent | 11 | Tim Hyde | Tom Dreaper |
| 1947 | Fortina | 6 | Mr Richard Black | Hector Christie |
| 1948 | Cottage Rake | 9 | Aubrey Brabazon | Vincent O'Brien |
| 1949 | Cottage Rake | 10 | Aubrey Brabazon | Vincent O'Brien |
| 1950 | Cottage Rake | 11 | Aubrey Brabazon | Vincent O'Brien |
| 1951 | Silver Fame | 12 | Martin Molony | George Beeby |
| 1952 | Mont Tremblant | 6 | Dave Dick | Fulke Walwyn |
| 1953 | Knock Hard | 9 | Tim Molony | Vincent O'Brien |
| 1954 | Four Ten | 8 | Tommy Cusack | John Roberts |
| 1955 | Gay Donald | 9 | Tony Grantham | Jim Ford |
| 1956 | Limber Hill | 9 | Jimmy Power | Bill Dutton |
| 1957 | Linwell | 9 | Michael Scudamore | Charlie Mallon |
| 1958 | Kerstin | 8 | Stan Hayhurst | Verly Bewicke |
| 1959 | Roddy Owen | 10 | Bobby Beasley | Danny Morgan |
| 1960 | Pas Seul | 7 | Bill Rees | Bob Turnell |
| 1961 | Saffron Tartan | 10 | Fred Winter | Don Butchers |
| 1962 | Mandarin | 11 | Fred Winter | Fulke Walwyn |
| 1963 | Mill House | 6 | Willie Robinson | Fulke Walwyn |
| 1964 | Arkle | 7 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1965 | Arkle | 8 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1966 | Arkle | 9 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1967 | Woodland Venture | 7 | Terry Biddlecombe | Fred Rimell |
| 1968 | Fort Leney | 10 | Pat Taaffe | Tom Dreaper |
| 1969 | What a Myth | 12 | Paul Kelleway | Ryan Price |
| 1970 | L'Escargot | 7 | Tommy Carberry | Dan Moore |
| 1971 | L'Escargot | 8 | Tommy Carberry | Dan Moore |
| 1972 | Glencaraig Lady | 8 | Frank Berry | Francis Flood |
| 1973 | The Dikler | 10 | Ron Barry | Fulke Walwyn |
| 1974 | Captain Christy | 7 | Bobby Beasley | Pat Taaffe |
| 1975 | Ten Up | 8 | Tommy Carberry | Jim Dreaper |
| 1976 | Royal Frolic | 7 | John Burke | Fred Rimell |
| 1977 | Davy Lad | 7 | Dessie Hughes | Mick O'Toole |
| 1978 | Midnight Court | 7 | John Francome | Fred Winter |
| 1979 | Alverton | 9 | Jonjo O'Neill | Peter Easterby |
| 1980 | Master Smudge * | 8 | Richard Hoare | Arthur Barrow |
| 1981 | Little Owl | 7 | Mr Jim Wilson | Peter Easterby |
| 1982 | Silver Buck | 10 | Robert Earnshaw | Michael Dickinson |
| 1983 | Bregawn | 9 | Graham Bradley | Michael Dickinson |
| 1984 | Burrough Hill Lad | 8 | Phil Tuck | Jenny Pitman |
| 1985 | Forgive N' Forget | 8 | Mark Dwyer | Jimmy FitzGerald |
| 1986 | Dawn Run | 8 | Jonjo O'Neill | Paddy Mullins |
| 1987 | The Thinker | 9 | Ridley Lamb | Arthur Stephenson |
| 1988 | Charter Party | 10 | Richard Dunwoody | David Nicholson |
| 1989 | Desert Orchid | 10 | Simon Sherwood | David Elsworth |
| 1990 | Norton's Coin | 9 | Graham McCourt | Sirrel Griffiths |
| 1991 | Garrison Savannah | 8 | Mark Pitman | Jenny Pitman |
| 1992 | Cool Ground | 10 | Adrian Maguire | Toby Balding |
| 1993 | Jodami | 8 | Mark Dwyer | Peter Beaumont |
| 1994 | The Fellow | 9 | Adam Kondrat | François Doumen |
| 1995 | Master Oats | 9 | Norman Williamson | Kim Bailey |
| 1996 | Imperial Call | 7 | Conor O'Dwyer | Fergie Sutherland |
| 1997 | Mr Mulligan | 9 | A. P. McCoy | Noel Chance |
| 1998 | Cool Dawn | 10 | Andrew Thornton | Robert Alner |
| 1999 | See More Business | 9 | Mick Fitzgerald | Paul Nicholls |
| 2000 | Looks Like Trouble | 8 | Richard Johnson | Noel Chance |
| 2001 race cancelled because of foot and mouth crisis | ||||
| 2002 | Best Mate | 7 | Jim Culloty | Henrietta Knight |
| 2003 | Best Mate | 8 | Jim Culloty | Henrietta Knight |
| 2004 | Best Mate | 9 | Jim Culloty | Henrietta Knight |
| 2005 | Kicking King | 7 | Barry Geraghty | Tom Taaffe |
| 2006 | War of Attrition | 7 | Conor O'Dwyer | Mouse Morris |
* Tied Cottage finished first in 1980 but was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance.
