Cheltenham Gold Cup Winners & Cheltenham Festival History
Cheltenham is the apogee of Jump racing and one of the most celebrated racecourses in the world, attracting audiences of up to 71,000 each year!
The 350-acre racecourse is widely referred to as the Home of Jump Racing and has hosted some of the finest National Hunt races over the last two centuries. Ever wondered when Cheltenham established itself and became the prestigious racecourse that it is today?
Let us take you on a trip down memory lane, where you can discover the first Cheltenham races, winners and how the Ireland v England Cheltenham rivalry began.
The Origins of the Cheltenham Festival
Before steeplechasing became customary at Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham hosted flat race meetings on Nottingham Hill. These races, which tested horses from the local area, were one-day affairs but growing crowds spurred the races to be relocated to Cleeve Hill in 1818.
Before then, Cheltenham kept no records of their race days and so the first officially recorded race winner was a five-year-old horse named Miss. Tidmarsh, who was owned by a Mr E. Jones.
For the next decade, horse racing soared in popularity and thousands began to descend upon Cleeve Hill to feast on the annual two-day meeting, which included a 3-mile Gold Cup flat race.
Before long the races formed a central part of a larger town carnival at Cheltenham. In the evening the town centre would host extravagant parties for the “who’s who” of the day, and during daylight hours, racing was the main focus of festivities with crowds attending to eat, drink, gamble and see sideshows at the course. Yet, despite the meetings growing popularity, there were a few who despised the sport.
Reverend Francis Close, Cheltenham’s Parish Priest, had been preaching the evils of horseracing, making hard references to gambling and drinking to his congregation. In 1829 the Cleeve Hill grandstand was burnt to the ground and the 1830 race meeting was violently disrupted.
As a result of the outrage, the racecourse moved to Prestbury Park but attendance numbers dwindled as the racing grounds were not as good as Cleeve Hill. Luckily, Cheltenham avoided closure in 1881 when a Mr W. A. Baring Bingham bought Prestbury Park and restored Cheltenham to its reputable name.
The first National Hunt Festival was held 11-years later, though Cheltenham didn’t become the established venue for the National Hunt until 1911, where it has been hosted ever since.
In 1924, the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup was introduced, a Grade 1 National Hunt chase ran over 3 miles and 2 ½ furlongs which fast became the highlight of The Festival.
It’s fair to say that the Cheltenham Gold Cup has produced a fair share of memorable and exhilarating moments on the Racecourse!
Cheltenham Gold Cup Winners
Before the Cheltenham Gold Cup became the chase that we know it to be, it was a 3-mile flat race first won by a horse named Spectre.
But in 1924, the Cheltenham Gold Cup was implemented into the steeple racing schedule by “Fog” Rowlands as a way of encouraging farmers to breed high-class horses to compete in a tough race. New rules meant horses were required to jump over obstacles whilst maintaining a fast pace and what a terrific idea it was!
Cheltenham’s First Gold Cup Winner
The first Cheltenham Gold Cup champion was a horse named Red Splash and his jockey, Dick Rees. Red Splash was down at 5/1 odds and raced to win around £700, equivalent to £28,741 today – still a whopping £595,000 less than what it is run for now!
Rees was of Welsh origin and is regarded as one of the greatest inter-war jockeys in British history. He also became the first rider to win 100 races in the 1924 National Hunt Season. Red Splash is also a noteworthy icon as he remains one of only three five-year-old horses to have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup race.
The original Cheltenham Gold Cup trophy, which Dick Rees would have received, weighs 644 grams of nine-carat gold and is also plated in 18-carat gold.
Cheltenham Racecourse only recently acquired the original from a private owner who had kept it in a bank vault since the early 1970s. It is now mounted on a plinth at Cheltenham and modern-day Gold Cup winners take a replica of the original home.
Cheltenham’s Most Recent Gold Cup Winners
The Gold Cup is the most-anticipated race of the final day at Cheltenham Festival and various world-class racers have written themselves into its history.
There have been several noticeable Cheltenham Gold Cup winners over the past century, some you may remember – others you might have forgotten. We’re going to look back at some of the most iconic Gold Cup wins.
2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner
This is the most recent Gold Cup to have taken place at the iconic Cheltenham Racecourse, and the winner in 2024 was Galopin Des Champs for the second renewal in a row, ridden on the day once again by Paul Townend. In the end, it was a three and a half length victory with Jack Kennedy’s Gerri Colombe and Derek Fox’s Corach Rambler having to settle for second and third place finishes respectively.
2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner
The winner of the Gold Cup at Cheltenham back in 2023 was Galopin Des Champs, who was ridden on the day by Paul Townend. It was a comfortable seven length win in the end with Bravemansgame and Conflated filling the other two spots in the top three of this race.
Galopin Des Champs became the 29th Irish trained horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. This was also Paul Townend and Willie Mullins’ third win in this race after both winning with Al Boum Photo in 2019 and 2020.
2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner
Rachael Blackmore made headlines when she rode A Plus Tard to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, becoming the first female jockey to win the blue riband race. She overtook pack leader Minella Indo in the race’s final stages after an excellent jump carried A Plus Tard into the lead. Blackmore has been waiting for this win since she won the 2021 Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National at Aintree.
2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner
Minella Indo won the 2021 Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival after being sent off at 9-1 and crossing the line a length and a quarter ahead of runner-up A Plus Tard, ridden by Rachael Blackmore.
After winning the Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase, Irish trainer Henry De Bromhead celebrated a hat-trick, becoming the first in his profession to win three championship races at Cheltenham Festival. After Minella Indo’s victory, Jack Kennedy finishes the Cheltenham Festival with four winners.
2020 Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner
The magnificent Al Boum Photo went on to become a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner for his second consecutive year in 2020. The race saw Bristol de Mai and Elegant Escape take the lead for the majority but as the final fence approached Al Boum Photo burst forth, with Santini and Lostintranslation in behind.
2019 Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner
2019’s legendary race was won by Paul Townend on Al Boum Photo, who is trained by Willie Mullins. The gelding galloped on home by two and a half lengths to beat Native River and Anibale Fly in this impressive victory.
Iconic Gold Cup Winners at Cheltenham
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the toughest chase, being a gruelling 3 miles, 2½ furlongs with an uphill finish and is one of the most exciting races of the Cheltenham Festival schedule. No horse can rest until they’ve crossed the winning post, so those that do – and more than once at that – really are some of the greatest in the equestrian world.
Golden Miller (1927-1957)
The most successful horse to have competed in the Gold Cup is Golden Miller, and like his name he really is a National Hunt treasure. Between 1932 and 1936, the gelding won the race five times! To this day, he is the only horse to have completed such a feat and it’s quite right that his owner Dorothy Paget, is also known as one of the greatest racehorse owners in history.
1934 was a glowing year for Golden Miller as he achieved the inconceivable, winning both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same year. Not only can no other horse claim this victory but the gelding also set a National Hunt course record, well, that was until the legendary Red Rum broke it almost 40 years later!
Arkle (1957-1970)
It is Arkle though who seems to be a trot, or two ahead of Golden Miller in terms of Cheltenham Gold Cup repute. He had a strange run about him and would cross his forelegs whilst jumping but that only made him more of an icon. Not only did the bay gelding win three Champion Hurdles successively but he also became the first equine millionaire.
He was ridden by one of the most successful jockeys in Gold Cup history, Pat Taafe. Duchess Anne owned the legendary Irish horse, whom she stumbled upon in 1960 when he was an unbroken 3-year old.
In 1966, Arkle won the Gold Cup by 30 lengths despite ploughing through a fence in the early stages of the race! In fact, Arkle became such a remarkable figure that in 1969 they dedicated a race in his honour, The Arkle Challenge Trophy which is still ran at Newbury Racecourse today.
Best Mate (1995-2005)
Best Mate fast became the next Cheltenham legend after winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup three consecutive times in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In the modern-day, it seemed that a triple win was practically impossible and in 2004 it looked that way as his rivals attempted to box him in during the race but Best Mate was unphased by their attempts to unnerve him.
Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to make it four out of four at Cheltenham, tragically suffering a heart attack during a race at Exeter Racecourse.
Other notable Gold Cup winners include Kauto Star, L’Escargot, who is best known for beating Red Rum at the Grand National and Desert Orchid, or Dessie, who romped to victory in 1989. He dug deep and rallied on past Yahoo on a wet, mud-ridden Cheltenham to take the win. Readers of the Racing Post were quick to vote the 1989 Gold Cup as the best horse race ever. Understandably!
Ireland v England Rivalry at Cheltenham
The Cheltenham Festival has long played host to some great sporting rivalries, with one of the most major being the Anglo-British rivalry. This has added an edge to racing at Cheltenham, so much so that The Festival celebrates the Ireland v England clash with a trophy – the 888sport Prestbury Cup!
It is presented to the jockeys and trainers of the country that is first to have 14, or more winning runners amongst their ranks. In 2022, Irish trainers claimed the Cheltenham Festival, celebrating five wins for Mullins and one apiece for Henry de Bromhead and Joesph O’Brien.
A Parade of Irish Victories
For many Irish racegoers, being crowned Overall Winners at Cheltenham is a bigger victory than a win in any other sporting contest. A few have even known some Irishmen to demand that their ashes be scattered along the uphill finish at the Racecourse.
The Irish have ten times more horses to people than Britain do, so it is no wonder that their country is brimming with horse fanatics. Some of the greatest horses have been bred and trained on the Land of Saints and Scholars and each year the Irish challenge strengthens.
The most famous of Irish-trained horses is probably Arkle, who was trained by Tom Dreaper. In the 1964 Cheltenham Gold Cup, Arkle went up against British powerhouse Mill House, trained by Fulke Walwyn and ridden by Willie Robinson. Mill House had beaten Arkle the year before in the Hennessy Gold Cup after Arkle slipped at the fences and so the Gold Cup showdown had all racegoers excited. The talented Mill House began out in front but Arkle was soon on top and drawing away from the British star, going on to win by five lengths.
Other greats include jockey, Tony McCoy, who won back-to-back top jockey titles at Cheltenham in 1997 and 1998. Istabraq, trained by the legendary Aidan O’Brien is also a champion product of Ireland, as well as Irish trainer Willie Mullins and jockey, Ruby Walsh who broke Pat Taafe’s record for the most career wins at Cheltenham Festival.
Cheltenham’s Big Brits
The UK has also had their fair share of victories. Richard Johnson is one of the greatest National Hunt jockeys of all time, having won all four Championship races at Cheltenham Racecourse. Also, widely celebrated is British horse trainer, Paul Nicholls who has handled Cheltenham’s talents – Kauto Star and Denman. He has won several titles at Cheltenham, including four Gold Cup races.
Other notable British-trained horses include Best Mate, who won three Cheltenham Gold Cup titles, Desert Orchid and Native River who won the Gold Cup in 2018.
Cheltenham Festival Top Ten Facts
- Cheltenham attracts a big crowd…
Over 260,000 racegoers flock to Prestbury Park for The Cheltenham Festival each year!
- An Irish love affair.
An Irish-trained horse has won the Cheltenham Gold Cup race 28 times since its inauguration.
- Cheltenham does it BIG!
Cheltenham hosts four days of horse racing action and is the second largest horse racing Festival in the UK, beaten only by Royal Ascot which lasts a day longer.
- Drinks and food galore…
It is believed that at least 8,000 gallons of tea and coffee are served, 220,000 pints of Irish Guinness is guzzled down, 9 tons of potatoes are consumed and 5 tons of salmon is devoured at the Festival each year!
- Luck of the Irish?
According to academics, it is estimated that The Cheltenham Festival brings in approximately £100m into the Gloucestershire economy.
- Hospitality continues to support Cheltenham!
Hospitality is one of the biggest income strands for the Cheltenham Festival and has enabled its organisers to invest more into maintaining and revamping the Racecourse to make sure you get great value for money.
- Feeling 22?
A total of 22 fences are jumped during the Cheltenham Gold Cup Race.
- Part of the woodwork.
The oldest race in the Cheltenham Festival is the Stayers’ Hurdle which was first introduced in 1912.
- Has Cheltenham ever been cancelled?
Yes, it has! Aside from the periods during the World Wars, the Festival didn’t run in 2001 due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease across the UK.
- Cheltenham Royalty
Ruby Walsh remains Cheltenham’s Champion Jockey, winning most wins by a jockey 7 times in one year at Cheltenham Racecourse!
Cheltenham has a rich and untold history, which only makes it all the more special to the UK. It boasts an annual attendance of around 700,000 racegoers and unlike Royal Ascot, has a much more laid back dress code, which often makes it one of the more favoured horse racing meetings.
It continues to grow in status and popularity, yet despite the helicopters, the heavy media coverage and the estimated £2.3m taken by cash machines — the organisers want nothing more than to put on some of the world’s finest races for you racegoers and for Cheltenham to maintain its original charm.
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