The Cheltenham Festival is the pinnacle of the jump racing scene in the UK and Ireland and has seen some stunning performances over the years by some of the best national hunt horses in history.
We take a closer look at five of the best-ever horses to feature at the Cheltenham Festival.
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1. Golden Miller (Cheltenham Gold Cup)
Just five-year-old when he first won the race, the remarkable Golden Miller managed to land the 1934 Grand National, setting a course record despite shouldering 12st-2lb in the Aintree showpiece, and he later added the Cheltenham Gold Cup course record to his CV.
He would probably have won the Gold Cup again in 1937, but snow caused the meeting to be cancelled. Aged 11, he was beaten for the first time in a Gold Cup a year later, finishing second as the 7/4 favourite. Golden Miller is now immortalised by a statue at Cheltenham Racecourse.
2. Best Mate (Cheltenham Gold Cup)
Cottage Rake (1949-1951), Arkle (1961-1966) and Best Mate (2002-2004) are other multiple Cheltenham Gold Cup winners who took the race three times apiece.
Best Mate also has a statue at Cheltenham and with a record of 14 wins and 7 seconds from 22 career starts, what an incredible horse he was.
Withdrawn from the 2005 Gold Cup eight days before the race due to bursting a blood vessel on the gallops and missing the 2001 Festival due to the foot and mouth crisis, Best Mate could have achieved more than he did.
But in taking the 2002 King George and 2003 Ericsson Chase, most jump racing aficionados appreciate what a great horse Best Mate was.
3. See You Then (Champion Hurdle)
The 70s was a great time for hurdling with Night Nurse, Monksfield, Comedy of Errors, and Sea Pigeon clashing swords, giving us some thrilling Champion Hurdles.
This quartet won the race twice apiece. But See You then went one better the following decade, taking the race for three consecutive years, putting his trainer, Nicky Henderson, on the map.
4. Big Bucks (Stayers’ Hurdle)
The Stayers’ Hurdle may not have always been a showpiece race at the Festival – far from it. But two horses, Inglis Drever and then Big Bucks, who stay longer than the mother-in-law, put that right.
Inglis Drever won the race three times over four years (2004-2008) in a record that looked unlikely to be matched, let alone bettered.
But Big Bucks rattled off four consecutive wins in a sequence which started in 2009. Often hitting a flat spot during his races, his love for the famous uphill Cheltenham finish made him immensely popular with racegoers – many of whom had him down as their Festival banker bet.
5. Istabraq (Champion Hurdle)
Istabraq was the next and most recent horse to claim a hat-trick of Champion Hurdle wins. His exploits at Cheltenham served to put Aidan O’Brien, now known as the finest trainer of flat horses in the world, on the map.
After a career on the flat, which yielded two wins from 11 starts, Istabraq was sold for 38,000 guineas and sent to fledgling trainer John Durkan, who had been an assistant to John Gosden.
But Durkan was diagnosed with leukaemia, and he suggested that Aidan O’Brien take over the training of Istabraq while he was ill. Sadly, Durkan died after witnessing Istabraq winning the 1997 Royal Sun Alliance Novices’ Hurdle (now the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle), but before any of his three Champion Hurdle triumphs or any of his outstanding exploits outside of Cheltenham.
Scott is an experienced betting content writer supplying content to major bookmakers and several sports betting websites. His passions are horse racing and Scottish football, and he’s a regular attendee at racetracks at home and abroad.
