The Cheltenham Gold Cup is one of the most prestigious races in Europe. Every year Gold Cup brings some of the best horses and jockeys who cover the grueling distance of 3 miles 2 1/2 furlongs to achieve ever-lasting horse racing glory.
Besides the racing honor, the competing horses also earn a lot of prize money by winning the Gold Cup.
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1- 1964 Cheltenham Gold Cup
Arkle is regarded as the greatest steeplechaser of all time with his Time form rating reaching 212. He is a household name in the UK with many familiar with his achievements. He achieved ever-lasting glory after winning three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups.
Mill House was his greatest rival who enjoyed the limelight more than Arkle before the 1964 Cheltenham Gold Cup. The Fulke Walwyn trained racehorse outclassed Arkle in the Hennessy Gold Cup after winning the 1963 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Arkle entered the prestigious competition again as a top favorite but Arkle got the better of him that time by five lengths. Arkle defied expectations and won the 1964 Gold Cup before repeating the same feat the following year. However, the margin of victory in 1965 was 20 lengths as Mill House looked no competition for the legendary Arkle.
He looked unstoppable at that time and registered one victory after another. In 1966, he won the race most emphatically with thirty lengths as his margin of victory. He was included in the British Steeplechasing Hall of Fame in 1994.
2- 2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup
Winning three consecutive Gold Cups looked almost impossible in the modern age, but Best Mate pulled that off in the year 2004. That’s how he included himself in the ranks of Arkle (3 Gold Cups), Golden Miller (4 Gold Cups) and Cottage Rake (3 Gold Cups). He was trained by Henrietta Knight while Jim Lewis was the owner.
The 2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup was Best Mate’s greatest victory on the turf. He looked extremely good that day and looked likely to win the race easily. However, his lead started slipping from him during the final stages of the race. Harbour Pilot and Sir Rembrandt got very close to Best Mate but he held on to finish the race first.
Best Mate won 14 races out of the 22 he competed in while he finished second in seven of them. Unfortunately, he got badly injured eight days before the 2005 edition of Cheltenham Gold Cup. He also missed the previous 2001 edition of the prestigious race because of the foot and mouth crisis.