Which was the last British-trained horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
In recent years, the ‘Blue Riband’ event of the Cheltenham Festival, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, has been dominated by horses trained in Ireland. Indeed, in the last decade or so, Irish dominance has extended to the Festival as a whole. Since the traditional rivalry between British and Irish trainers became officially titled ‘The Prestbury Cup’ in 2014, the home team has been outscored 8-2, with all eight wins for the Irish coming in the last nine years, including by a record 23-5 margin in 2021.
At the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, Irish trainers won 18 of the 27 races across the four days (the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase was abandoned due to waterlogging), including 12 of the 14 highest-class, Grade 1 races.County Carlow trainer Willie Mullins cemented his position as the most successful trainer in Festival and made history by becoming the first person to saddle a century of winners, courtesy of Jasmin De Vaux in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper on the Wednesday.
Mullins’ eight Grade 1 winners for the week in 2024 included Galopin Des Champs, who justified favouritism in the Cheltenham God Cup, for the second year running, with a convincing three-and-a-half-length victory over Gerri Colombe. On the Gold Cup roll of honour, Galopin Des Champs is preceded by two winners trained in County Waterford by Henry De Bromhead, A Plus Tard in 2022 and Minella Indo in 2021 and, before that, another dual winner for Mullins, Al Boum Photo, in 2020 and 2019. Thus, the last British-trained horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup was Native River, saddled by Colin Tizzard, in 2018.
At the time of writing, Henrietta Knight remains a retired National Hunt trainer, best known for saddling Best Mate to a hat-trick of wins in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Based at West Lockinge Farm near Wantage, Oxfordshire, where she has been running a successful livery yard since her retirement from the training ranks, Knight was by no means a one-trick pony and, in fact, saddled over 700 winners between 1989 and 2012. At that stage, she relinquished her licence to help care for her ailing husband, former champion National Hunt jockey Terry Biddlecombe, who suffered a stroke in October 2011 and died in January 2014, at the age of 72, after a long illness.
Summer is the perfect time to break away from the usual routine and embrace the great outdoors with some unconventional activities. Whether you’re seeking adventure, relaxation, or a new way to connect with nature, these unique outdoor pursuits offer something exciting for everyone. From the treasure-hunting fun of geocaching to the serene beauty of nature photography, here are three standout activities to make your summer unforgettable.
In horse racing, a handicap is a race in which each horse is allocated a weight according to its official rating. Once a horse has run three times, it is assigned an official rating, which is a numerical representation of its ability, in the eyes of a team of handicappers at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), and becomes eligible to run in handicap races. The merit of each subsequent performance is assessed and, as result, an official rating may be revised up or down or stay the same.