The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt

horse race Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, ...

run on the New Course at

Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...

in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 miles 2 furlongs and 70 yards, or 5,294 m), and during its running there are 22 fences to be jumped. The race takes place each year during the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

in March. The

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

, which is open to horses aged five years and over, is the most prestigious of all National Hunt events and it is sometimes referred to as the ''Blue Riband'' of jump-racing. Its roll of honour features the names of such chasers as

Arkle Arkle (19 April 1957 – 31 May 1970) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by ''Archive'' out of ''Bright Cherry'', he was the grandson of the unbeaten (in 14 races) flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was bred by Mar ...

Best Mate Best Mate (28 January 1995 – 1 November 2005) was an Irish-bred, English-trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was considered one of the most loved horses in the history of horse racing in the UK, with hi ...

, Golden Miller, Kauto Star, Denman and Mill House. The Gold Cup is the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain, and in 2021 it offered a total prize fund of £468,750.

History

Early years

The first horse race known as the Cheltenham Gold Cup took place in July 1819. It was a flat race, and it was contested over 3 miles on Cleeve Hill, which overlooks the present venue. The inaugural winner, Spectre, won a prize of 100 guineas for his owner Mr Bodenham. The Cheltenham Gold Cup was first run as a jumps race on 12 March 1924. The race was covered by Pathe News. A prize of £685 was awarded to the owner of the winning horse. The event originally took place on what is now the "Old Course" at Cheltenham. In its early years it was overshadowed at the Festival by another race, the National Hunt Chase and was worth less in prize money than the

County Handicap Hurdle The County Handicap Hurdle is a Premier Handicap National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distan ...

which had a purse of £1,000. The Gold Cup was abandoned in 1931 (because of frost) and 1937 (flooding), but the five intervening years saw the emergence of the most successful horse in the event's history. All five races from 1932 to 1936 were won by Golden Miller, who also won the Grand National in 1934. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Gold Cup was cancelled twice, in 1943 and 1944. The first multiple winner in the post-war era was

Cottage Rake Cottage Rake (1939–1961) was a successful National Hunt racehorse. His breeder was Richard Vaughan from Hunting Hall, Castletown Roche, Co. Cork, Ireland. Before he embarked on his jumping career, he was failed by a vet on three different e ...

, who won the three runnings from 1948 to 1950. Cottage Rake was trained in Ireland by Vincent O'Brien, and his successes helped to popularise the Gold Cup, and the Festival itself, with the Irish public.

Modern era

The Gold Cup was switched to the "New Course" in 1959, and this remains the regular track used for the event. In the mid-1960s, the race was dominated by Arkle, who won three consecutive runnings from 1964 to 1966. Such was Arkle's perceived superiority before the last of these victories that he was given a starting price of 1/10 (a £10 bet would have won £1). He remains the shortest-priced winner in the race's history. The first commercial sponsorship of the race was by Piper Champagne, which began supporting the event in 1972. The Tote (now known as Totesport) became the sponsor in 1980. The most remarkable feat in the Gold Cup by a trainer came in 1983, when Michael Dickinson was responsible for all of the first five horses to finish – Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House. The 1986 winner,

Dawn Run Dawn Run (1978–1986) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse (Deep Run - Twilight Slave) who was the most successful racemare in the history of National Hunt racing. She won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1984 and the Cheltenha ...

, is the only horse to have ever won both this race and the leading hurdle event, the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a d ...

. One of the most popular horses to win the Gold Cup was Desert Orchid, a

grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be compos ...

who won the event in 1989. The following year's running was won by Norton's Coin, whose starting price of 100/1 represents the race's longest ever winning price. The entire Cheltenham Festival was cancelled in 2001 because of an outbreak of

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, follo ...

. A replacement for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Gold Trophy Chase, was contested at Sandown in late April, but the

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of ...

stated that this ''"lacked any strength in depth and was no substitute for the Gold Cup"''. The next three runnings were all won by

, who is the most recent of the four horses to have won the race three or more times. In 2009, Kauto Star became the first horse to regain the Gold Cup. He overcame his stablemate and conqueror in 2008, Denman, who had recovered from a heart condition to take his place in the race. Timeform spokesperson Kieran Packman said of Kauto Star's performance, ''"it is the best Gold Cup-winning figure since the Arkle era in the mid-1960s"''. One of the cups, a different one being awarded each year, was reported stolen on 14 July 2010 after a burglary at a home in Wormington, Gloucestershire. Cheltenham Racecourse announced in September 2018 that it had been reunited with the original Cheltenham Gold Cup trophy, dating back to 1924, and will present it to the winner of the 2019 race. First awarded to five-year-old Red Splash, owned by Major Humphrey Wyndham, trained by Fred Withington and ridden by Dick Rees, it will now be re-introduced as a perpetual trophy, presented to the winning connections of the 2019 race and in future years. In 2020 the Cheltenham Festival, and the Gold Cup in particular, was blamed for accelerating the spread of Covid-19 in the UK, being one of the last major sporting events to take place before national lockdowns were imposed by the government. In 2021 the Gold Cup was contested behind closed doors, as the rest of the festival was, resulting in a muted atmosphere. In 2022,

Rachael Blackmore Rachael Blackmore (born 11 July 1989) is an Irish jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. In 2021, she became the first female jockey to win the Grand National in the 182-year history of the race. She also became the first woman to be lead ...

became the first ever female jockey to ride to victory at the Gold Cup on A Plus Tard, who she'd ridden to second place the previous year.

Records

Most successful horse (5 wins): * Golden Miller – ''1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936'' Leading jockey (4 wins): * Pat Taaffe – ''Arkle (1964, 1965, 1966), Fort Leney (1968)'' Leading trainer (5 wins): * Tom Dreaper – ''Prince Regent (1946), Arkle (1964, 1965, 1966), Fort Leney (1968)'' Leading owner (7 wins): * Dorothy Paget – ''Golden Miller (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936), Roman Hackle (1940), Mont Tremblant (1952)''

Winners

* ''Amateur jockeys indicated by "Mr".'' * ''Winning mares indicated by †'' * ''Winning trainers based in Great Britain unless indicated (IRE) = Ireland, (FRA) = France'' The race was abandoned in 1931 because of frost, and in 1937 because of flooding.
It was cancelled in 1943 and 1944 because of

.
The 1957 winner, Linwell, was trained by Ivor Herbert, a well-known racing journalist and so barred from holding a trainer's licence.
Tied Cottage finished first in 1980, but was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance.
The 2001 running was cancelled due to a

foot-and-mouth Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

outbreak. A substitute race at Sandown was won by Marlborough.

Race sponsors

Betfred began sponsoring the Gold Cup in 2012, after the betting company bought the Government-owned Tote in June 2011, but in late 2015 they lost their sponsorship following

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, a ...

's and Arena Racing new initiative to not allow bookmaker sponsorships on their tracks that do not offer any contribution to horse racing from their offshore business. Only two weeks later a new sponsorship deal was announced with

Timico Timico is an Information Technology Managed Services provider in the United Kingdom. Company overview Timico gained a top 10 place in The Sunday Times Tech Track Fastest Growing Companies list, and in 2009 were ranked 7th in the Deloitte Techno ...

, an independent internet service provider whose CEO Tim Radford is a horse owner having top chasers like Somersby and Racing Demon associated with his name. Timico also offered an increase of £25,000 to reach a total of £575,000 prize money for the 2016 Gold Cup renewal. It was the first time that the race had been sponsored by a non-bookmaker since the Tote took over from Piper Champagne in 1980. In July 2018 Cheltenham Racecourse announced Magners Irish Cider as the new Cheltenham Gold Cup sponsor until 2021 with a possible extension to 2022. Magners ended their sponsorship early, after the 2020 race, and the 2021 race will carry the name of the charity WellChild. On 24 January 2022 it was announced luxury jeweller Boodles would sponsor the Cheltenham Gold Cup from 2022. The Cheltenham Gold Cup has had the following sponsors: *''No sponsor'' before 1972 *Piper Champagne Cheltenham Gold Cup (1972 – 1979) *Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup (1980 – 2003) *totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup (2004 – 2011) *Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup (2012 – 2015) *Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup (2016 – 2018) *Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup (2019–2020) * WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (2021) *Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (2022-

References

---- *

: ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , , , , ----
thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham''Italic text''
– ''Media information pack (2010).''
horseracinghistory.co.uk
– ''Cheltenham Gold Cup.''
pedigreequery.com
– ''Cheltenham Gold Cup – Cheltenham.''

– ''Cheltenham Gold Cup.'' *

External links

* Race Recording

{{Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Cheltenham Gold Cup, National Hunt races in Great Britain Cheltenham Racecourse National Hunt chases Gold Cup Recurring sporting events established in 1924 1924 establishments in England Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom March sporting events