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| Cheltenham Gold Cup Facts & Figures |
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totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Facts & Figures
08/01/07
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1. The totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup is the most valuable non-handicap
chase in Britain. The total prize money for the 2007 running will be £425,000,
up from £400,000 in 2006. The first Cheltenham Gold Cup was a three-mile
Flat race in 1819, won by a Mr Bodenham’s Spectre. The chase as
we now know it was introduced in 1924, and won that year by Red Splash.
The winning prize money was just £700.
2. Last year saw the joint biggest Gold Cup field ever, with 22 runners
going to post. Since the race was first run in 1924, there has only been
one other renewal with more than 20 runners - in 1982 when Silver Buck
defeated 21 rivals.
3. Golden Miller holds the record for the most Gold Cup victories, with
five consecutive wins from 1932-36. The race is fiercely competitive
- so much so that before Best
Mate in 2002, 2003 and 2004, the last horse
to win more than once was L’Escargot in 1970 and 1971.
4. Golden Miller’s owner, Dorothy Paget, is also the most successful
owner in the race with an amazing seven victories, with Roman Hackle
(1940) and Mont Tremblant (1952) adding to Golden Miller’s five
wins.
5. The most successful trainer is Tom Dreaper, who won five Gold Cups with three separate horses, namely Prince Regent (1946), Arkle (1964-66) and Fort Leney (1968).
6. Tony McCoy’s Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle/totesport Cheltenham
Gold Cup double in 1997 on Make A Stand and Mr Mulligan was the 11th
time that the big-race double has been landed by one jockey in the same
year. The other jockeys to have achieved the feat were Dick Rees (1929),
Tom Cullinan (1930), Ted Leader (1932), Bill Stott (1933), Gerry Wilson
(1935), Aubrey Brabazon (1949 and 1950), Tim Molony (1953), Fred Winter
(1961) and Norman Williamson (1995).
7. Alderbrook and Master Oats in 1995 enabled Norman Williamson and
Kim Bailey to join a very select group of jockey and trainer partnerships
who have won both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup in the same year.
The other partnerships were Tom Cullinan and Jack Anthony in 1930, Ted
Leader and Basil Briscoe in 1932, Bill Stott and Basil Briscoe in 1933,
and Aubrey Brabazon and Vincent O’Brien in both 1949 and 1950.
8. Dawn Run is the only horse to have won both the Champion Hurdle and
Gold Cup. She was successful in 1984 and 1986 respectively.
9. The longest-priced winner of the Gold Cup is Norton’s Coin,
who started at 100/1 in 1990, while the shortest-priced winner was Arkle,
the 1/10 favourite in 1966.
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10. The last grey Gold Cup winner was Desert Orchid in 1989.
11. totesport has sponsored the Cheltenham Gold Cup since 1980.
12. In the Gold Cup's history only six horses have won more than once, and the most recent of them is Best Mate in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The others were L'Escargot (1970/71), Easter Hero (1929/30), Golden Miller (1932/33/34/35/36), Cottage Rake (1948/49/50) and Arkle (1964/65/66). Their successes were all in consecutive years.
13. The last 25 runnings have seen eight 9-year-olds, seven 8-year-olds,
five 10-year-olds and five 7-year-olds be successful. The last horse
over the age of 10 to win was 12-year-old What A Myth in 1969.
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14. Seven of the last 25 favourites have justified the market confidence - Kicking King in 2005, Best Mate in 2003 and 2004, Master Oats in 1995, Desert Orchid in 1989, Dawn Run in 1986 and Bregawn in 1983. Six of the last eight favourites have reached the frame or won - See More Business was fourth in 2000, Florida Pearl third in 1999 and Dorans Pride third in 1998.
15. The four Irish-trained winners in the last 25 runnings were War Of Attrition last season, Kicking King in 2005, Imperial Call in 1996 and Dawn Run 10 years before that. Irish-trained horses did better between 1946 and 1977 when 16 successes were achieved. The only French-trained winner was The Fellow in 1994 while there has also been a Welsh-trained victor in Norton’s Coin (1990).
