Cheltenham Gold Cup Legends

Looking back as far as the 1960s there are two horses that have to go down as legends and they are Arkle and Best Mate. Each of these horses have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup three times in succession and this feat has only been done by 4 horses in total. We have to look to recent history as things have got more competitive and as such we have to honour two horses.

Cheltenham Gold Cup Legends - Best Mate

Best Mate was probably the most popular racehorse of the present era and won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He was trained by Henrietta Knight and this partnership will go down in history. It was sheer drama each time Best Mate took to the racecourse where Henrietta could not watch her treasured equine star as he went about his business winning on most occasions he visited the track.

Out of the 25 times Best Mate raced he won 14 of these races, finished second in the remainder except for his final race at Exeter where he died on the course where he was so graceful and gave so much pleasure to his connections, his owner Jim Lewis and his adoring fans.

Cheltenham Gold Cup Legends - Arkle

Arkle ran a total of 34 times and won 27 of those starts. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup 3 times in 1964, 1965 and 1966. Arkle was revered by the Irish and was often referred to as "Himself".

His Gold Cup wins were great races where he beat Mill House on two occasions and he will always be remembered for his weight carrying victories in the later part of his racing days.

Cheltenham Gold Cup Legends - Kauto Star

In recent times we have seen Kauto Star turn into a real Gold Cup legend with two wins in the famous race, we saw him win in 2007 and once again in 2009 when he wrote his name into the record books by becoming the first horse ever to regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In between that in 2008, we saw Kauto Star finish second behind a stunning run from stablemate Denman to prove himself as a Gold Cup Legend. Outside of the gold Cup, Kauto Star has won four King George's so far as well as numerous other Grade 1 races to prove himself as the premier chaser of his era.