The best Gold Cup-winning performances of the last 25 years
HATS OFF: Jockey Ruby Walsh aboard Kauto Star celebrates after winning the 2007 Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase. Pic: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE
It was billed as the day Galopin Des Champs would join Best Mate, Arkle, and Cottage Rake as a three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner but the Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old ultimately had no answer for an inspired Inothewayurthinkin in this year’s Festival feature.
Where does Friday’s triumph rank in comparison to the other 24 winning efforts in the opening quarter of this century?
Such a question obviously can’t be answered definitively but assessing the merits of each winning display would lead to a lively pub debate among racing folk. Here’s an entirely subjective take on the matter...
Kempton was the place where Kauto Star shone brightest but he was awesome on this day as he avenged his 2008 defeat to stablemate Denman with a 13-length success. In doing so, he became the first horse to regain the blue riband and earned an official rating of 186, the highest figure recorded by any Gold Cup winner this century.
The most eagerly-anticipated Gold Cup since Arkle v Mill House saw Denman produce a truly exceptional display of raw power to dethrone Kauto Star. The reigning champion simply had no answer to Denman’s relentless staying power, seven lengths separating the pair at the line.
Held up towards the back early on, Galopin Des Champs gradually eased his way into contention and drew level with Bravemansgame at the second last. There was still nothing between the pair at the last but Galopin galloped clear from there to record a seven-length win.
A compelling renewal saw Denman and Kauto Star, both then aged 11, clash for the fourth and final time but the grizzled veterans had to settle for minor honours as Long Run became the first six-year-old to win the Gold Cup since Mill House in 1963.
His 2004 win was obviously more dramatic and memorable but Best Mate’s middle Gold Cup triumph was undoubtedly his finest performance as he destroyed his rivals en route to a 10-length success.
From early on, the 2018 renewal was a duel between two horses. Might Bite looked the more likely winner for most of the race but Native River’s staying power and grit ultimately decisive. He remains the last English-trained horse to win the Gold Cup.
Fragile but brilliant, Coneygree made history a decade ago, becoming the first horse since Captain Christy 41 years earlier to win the Gold Cup as a novice after making nearly all the running.
Having been held up in 2023, Galopin Des Champs got a very different ride from Paul Townend 12 months later. The reigning champion was always prominent on this occasion and, in truth, his supporters never had a moment’s worry.
After sharing the previous two Gold Cups, the 2010 renewal was billed the decider in the Kauto Star v Denman battle. However, having survived an early jumping scare, Kauto Star fell four fences from home and Denman, a tad below his best on the day, ultimately had no answer for Imperial Commander.
Having fallen short twice in Festival races, Don Cossack made it third time lucky at Cheltenham by winning the biggest of the meeting. Market rival Cue Card was still very much in the mix when falling three fences out but it would have taken a monster effort to deny Don Cossack his golden moment.
Supplemented last weekend for this year’s blue riband, few believed Inothewayurthinkin would be good enough to dethrone dual champion Galopin Des Champs, a horse who finished seven and a quarter lengths in front of him in last month’s Irish Gold Cup. However, the Gavin Cromwell-trained seven-year-old was a different beast on Friday, bouncing off the faster ground en route to a six-length victory.
In the absence of Best Mate, the 2005 Gold Cup was one of the most open this century but Kicking King, sent off the 4-1 favourite, was silky smooth on the day and ultimately got the better of Take The Stand by five lengths.
Some might argue 12th is an insulting rating given the calibre of the horse but his rivals played into Kauto Star’s hands by going a sedate pace, an approach that was always doomed to failure against a horse fast enough to twice win the Tingle Creek over two miles.
Like Kauto Star, A Plus Tard possessed a deadly turn of foot and he employed that to devastating effect in avenging his 2021 defeat to Minella Indo. There was nothing between the stablemates as they jumped the last but A Plus Tard landed running and powered to a 15-length triumph.
The foot and mouth outbreak denied Best Mate the chance to win the Arkle in 2001 but there was no stopping him a year later as he bagged the first of his three Gold Cup wins. A star had arrived.
While he lacked the brilliance of Galopin Des Champs, there were similarities in their first Gold Cup wins as Al Boum Photo was settled towards the back before picking off his rivals one by one until there were no further horses to pass.
The most aptly-named Gold Cup winner of the century, War Of Attrition showed his toughness in fending off Hedgehunter to secure Gold Cup glory for Mouse Morris.
He wasn’t pretty, he wasn’t imposing but Bobs Worth was tough, seriously tough and he utilised all his courage in the 2013 Gold Cup, ultimately seeing off Sir Des Champs by seven lengths.
Having showed his staying power in an attritional Gold Cup in 2019, Al Boum Photo showed he was no one-trick pony by retaining his title in a tactical affair a year later.
Too low? Possibly, given the historic nature of him emulating Arkle’s hat-trick. However, the problem for Best Mate is that while Arkle shared an era with a genuinely top-class rival in Mill House, Best Mate didn’t meet anything close to a superstar in any of his Gold Cup triumphs.
Having repeatedly banged his head against the brick wall that was Douvan over two miles, Sizing John was a revelation when stepped up in trip, winning the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown in February 2017 before striking gold at Cheltenham and Punchestown in the months that followed. Why so low down in this list then? Because his heroic Punchestown triumph was more impressive than his Cheltenham one.
A good Gold Cup rather than a great one but the winner showed plenty of courage in repelling his rivals in the hands of Richard Johnson.
His form before and after his Gold Cup win wasn’t overly impressive but he was good on the day that mattered most, outstaying stablemate A Plus Tard by a length and a quarter.
e was on the backfoot for most of his Gold Cup triumph but stayed in touch long enough for his stamina to come to the fore in a race in which reigning champion and hot favourite Long Run finished a one-paced third and Kauto Star was pulled up.
The 2014 renewal was packed with incident with the tension extending to the dramatic stewards’ inquiry that followed a bunch finish. However, there’s a difference between drama and quality and Lord Windermere won’t be remembered as a vintage Gold Cup winner.
