Cheltenham Festival

The 2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup was the seventy-sixth running of the race, as a steeplechase, and in 75 previous renewals just three horses had won the race three times or more; Golden Miller completed an unprecedented five-timer between 1932 and 1936, while Cottage Rake and Arkle both completed hat-tricks, between 1948 and 1950, and 1964 and 1966, respectively.

Consequently, most of the hype before the race focused on the prospects of Best Mate, winner in 2002 and 2003, adding his name to the list of triple winners. Ten runners went to post, with Best Mate sent off 8/11 favourite, ahead of Threalbandit at 15/2 and 10/1 bar the front pair. The race itself, though, produced a closer finish than the betting may have suggested.

Best Mate quickened into the lead between the final two fences, but had to be driven out on the run-in to withstand a renewed effort by Sir Rembrandt, who finished well to get within half a length of the winner. Beaten the same distance by Bindaree in the Welsh Grand National in December, Sir Rembrandt had run poorly in both the Pillar Property Chase at Newbury and the Aon Chase at Cheltenham on his last two starts, so looked a bona fide 33/1 chance, at least on paper. Nevertheless, he did his best to deny Best Mate his place in history, with Harbour Pilot third for the second year running, 1¼ lengths further behind, and the luckless Beef Or Salmon fourth, another 1¾ lengths back.

With the first four horses covered by just 3½ lengths, winning trainer Henrietta Knight said of Best Mate, “He’s had the toughest race of his life today.”

The 2003 Cheltenham Gold Cup featured 15 runners, including the first three horses home in the 2002 renewal, Best Mate, Commanche Court and See More Business. The race was notable for the fact that, for the first time, horses could be supplemented, at a cost of £17,500, five days beforehand.

Defending champion Best Mate had won the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon and the King George VI Chase at Kempton on his two starts in 2002/03 and was, unsurprisingly, sent off, hot favourite at 13/8. His task was eased, somewhat, when his main market rival, Beef Or Salmon, took a heavy fall at the third fence, but such was the manner of his eventual victory that he may well have won in any case.

Best Mate ran a similar race to the previous year, albeit that he hit the front sooner, cruising past stable companion Chives approaching the home turn and never looking in danger of defeat thereafter. At the line, he had 10 lengths to spare over his nearest pursuer, 33/1 chance Truckers Tavern, who stayed on, under pressure, to take second on the run-in, while 40/1 chance Harbour Pilot – under a typical, if exaggerated, waiting ride from Paul Carberry – came from out of the clouds to finish third, a further 2½ lengths behind. Best Mate thus became the first horse since L’Escargot, 32 years previously, to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup two years running.

Winning owner Jim Lewis said afterwards, “I’ve got a heart here going so fast it could beat eggs.” He was subsequently presented with the Gold Cup trophy by Queen Elizabeth II, making her first appearance at Prestbury Park for over half a century.

After a 12-month hiatus due to a full-blown epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom, the Cheltenham Gold Cup returned in 2002. Indeed, while no-one realised it at the time, the 2002 renewal heralded the start of a new era of domination by Best Mate, who would eventually become just the fourth horse in the history of the Gold Cup – after Golden Miller, Cottage Rake and Arkle – to win the race three times or more.

The 2002 Cheltenham Gold Cup featured 18 runners, the largest field since 1982, including the two most recent winners, Looks Like Trouble and See More Business. The fomer was sent off 9/2 favourite, but, having made much of the running, weakened from three out to finish tailed-off last of the 13 finishers. The latter, on the other hand, belied odds of 40/1 to finish a creditable third, beaten 9¾ lengths by the winner, after being outpaced on the run-in.

Trained by Henrietta Knight and ridden by Jim Culloty, Best Mate had been narrowly beaten by Florida Pearl in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on his first attempt over three miles and was stepping up another two-and-a-half furlongs at Cheltenham. Nevertheless, the seven-year-old was noted travelling very strongly on the heels of the leaders approaching the final open ditch and, having quickened ahead at the final fence, ran on well to beat the former Irish grand National winner Commanche Court, trained by Ted Walsh and ridden by his son, Ruby, by 1¾ lengths.

A delighted Henrietta Knight said afterwards, “I’ve always said he was the perfect racehorse, so I knew he’d stay three miles plus. Jim [Culloty] gave him a super ride, always in the right place. “

The last Cheltenham Gold Cup of the twentieth century – and, indeed, the last before the foot-and-mouth epidemic of 2001 stopped the country, including the Cheltenham Festival, in its tracks – was run on unseasonably fast going, officially described as good to firm. Twelve horses went to post and the combination of the underfoot conditions and a breakneck pace, set by Tony McCoy aboard Gloria Victis, produced a winning time of 6:30.3, just over half second faster than the previous best set by Norton’s Coin a decade earlier.

Defending champion See More Business, trained by Paul Nicholls, was sent off 9/4 favourite on his attempt to become the first horse since L’Escargot to win back-to-back Gold Cups. On ground faster than ideal, though, he lost his position at the third-last fence before rallying and staying on again on the run-in to finish fourth, 6 lengths behind the winner.

That winner was Looks Like Trouble, trained by Noel Chance and ridden by Richard Johnson, who had been pulled up behind See More Business, on unfavourably soft ground, in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, but proved an entirely different propsition this time around. Having survived a blunder just before halfway, the eight-year-old duelled with fellow joint-second favourite Florida Pearl from the penultimate fence before drawing away on the run-in to win by 5 lengths.

Johnson, who was riding Looks Like Trouble for the first time after regular jockey Norman Williamson fell out with owner Tim Collins, said afterwards, “I don’t really know the circumstances surrounding it, but I was very lucky to get the ride. Still, what the heck, it feels brilliant!”

Friday, March 15, 2019 proved to be a red-letter day for the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins. Prior to that day, the Closutton maestro had been trying to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup for 20 years but, despite saddling the runner-up on no fewer than six occasions, had never managed to do so. That all changed when Al Boum Photo, the stable third-string, according to the bookmakers, led turning in and stayed on strongly from the final fence to beat Anibale Fly by 2½ lengths and give Mullins his first ever winner of the showpiece event.

Mullins actually saddled four runners, but only Al Boum Photo made it to the finish. Kemboy, ridden by Mullins’ nephew, David, unseated rider at the first fence, Bellshill, ridden by Ruby Walsh, was pulled up early on the second circuit after a series of mistakes and Invitation Only, ridden by Mullins’ son, Patrick, fell fatally at the tenth fence. The latter incident took the shine off a historic victory for Mullins, but he remained philosophical, saying, “I had probably resigned myself to never winning a Gold Cup, so I said I won’t obsess about it or get too disappointed by it.”

The defending champion, Native River, was never really travelling and finished fourth without threatening the leaders, while the favourite Presenting Percy, who finished lame, trailed in eighth of the nine finishers after his saddle slipped. Anibale Fly, who had finished third in 2018, was placed for the second year running and Bristol De Mai, who had finished seventh, improved four places into third. Reflecting on his first victory in the race, winning jockey Paul Townend said, “I got in a beautiful rhythm. When you’re going well, it just seems so simple.”