Cheltenham Gold Cup

As the most prestigious event in National Hunt racing, the Cheltenham Gold Cup requires little or no introduction. Established, in its modern guise – that is, as a steeplechase, run over three miles and two and a half furlongs on the New Course at Cheltenham – in 1959, the Cheltenham Gold Cup is, nowadays, the second most valuable jumps race run in Britain, behind only the Grand National.

Unlike the Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup is a weight-for-age conditions race, in which horses aged six years and upwards carry 11st 10lb, five-year-olds carry 11st 6lb and mares receive a 7lb allowance. It is perhaps worth noting at this point that the last five-year-old to win the race was the legendary Golden Miller, who did so on his first attempt way back in 1932. Owned by the eccentric Dorothy Paget – who is worthy of an article in her own right – Golden Miller went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup again in 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1936 and remains the most successful horse in the history of the ‘Blue Riband’ event.

Of course, Golden Miller raced long before Timeform ratings for jump racing were first published in the early sixties, but it is no coincidence that 12 of the top 20 highest-rated steeplechasers of the Timeform era won the Cheltenham Gold Cup at least once. The roll of honour includes such luminary names as Arkle, Kauto Star, Mill House, Desert Orchid, Burrough Hill Lad and Long Run, to name but half a dozen.