The 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Thursday 16 March 1989. It was the 62nd running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Desert Orchid. The winner was ridden by Simon Sherwood and trained by David Elsworth.
The race was later voted the "Greatest Race of All Time" in a Racing Post poll, ahead of the 1973 Grand National and the 1975 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. [1]
Yahoo jumps from Desert Orchid, but Desert Orchid, is rallying, he's trying to come again towards the near side. It's Yahoo on the far side, Dessert Orchid towards the near side, Desert Orchid's accelerating as the come to the last. Yahoo on the far side, Desert Orchid on the near side. It's Desert Orchid on the near side, Yahoo on the far side, Desert Orchid drifting over towards the stand side, he's beginning to get up. Desert Orchid is beginning to get up as the race towards the line, there's a tremendous cheer from the crowd as Desert Orchid is going to win it! Desert Orchid has won the Gold Cup! Yahoo is second, third is Charter Party. Simon Sherwood punches the air, Dessie's has done it!
Commentator Peter O'Sullevan describes the climax of the race
* | Horse | Age | Jockey | Trainer† | SP | |
1 | Desert Orchid | 10 | Simon Sherwood | David Elsworth | 5/2 fav | |
2 | 1½ | Yahoo | 8 | Tom Morgan | John Edwards | 25/1 |
3 | 8 | Charter Party | 11 | Richard Dunwoody | David Nicholson | 14/1 |
4 | dist | Bonanza Boy | 8 | Peter Scudamore | Martin Pipe | 15/2 |
5 | dist | West Tip | 12 | Peter Hobbs | Michael Oliver | 66/1 |
Ref | Fence 22 | Cavvies Clown | 9 | Ross Arnott | David Elsworth | 8/1 |
PU | Fence 22 | Pegwell Bay | 8 | Carl Llewellyn | Tim Forster | 25/1 |
BD | Fence 20 | Ballyhane | 8 | Richard Rowe | Josh Gifford | 50/1 |
Fell | Fence 20 | Ten Plus | 9 | Kevin Mooney | Fulke Walwyn | 11/2 |
Fell | Fence 17 | Slalom | 8 | John White | Michael Robinson | 33/1 |
Fell | Fence 10 | The Thinker | 11 | Chris Grant | Arthur Stephenson | 15/2 |
Fell | Fence 7 | Carvill's Hill | 7 | Ken Morgan | Jim Dreaper (IRE) | 5/1 |
Fell | Fence 6 | Golden Freeze | 7 | Brendan Sheridan | Jumbo Wilkinson | 16/1 |
* The distances between the horses are shown in lengths or shorter. Ref = refused; PU = pulled-up; BD = brought down.
† Trainers are based in Great Britain unless indicated.
Further details of the winner, Desert Orchid :
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: hurdles and steeplechases. Alongside these there are "bumpers", which are National Hunt flat races. In a hurdles race, the horses jump over obstacles called hurdles; in a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jump or an open ditch. In the UK the biggest National Hunt events of the year are generally considered to be the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
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