The 2003 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Thursday 13 March 2003. It was the 75th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Best Mate. The winner was ridden by Jim Culloty and trained by Henrietta Knight.
Best Mate became the first horse to win consecutive runnings of the Gold Cup since L'Escargot in 1970 and 1971.
* | Horse | Age | Jockey | Trainer† | SP | |
1 | Best Mate | 8 | Jim Culloty | Henrietta Knight | 13/8 fav | |
2 | 10 | Truckers Tavern | 8 | Davy Russell | Ferdy Murphy | 33/1 |
3 | 2½ | Harbour Pilot | 8 | Paul Carberry | Noel Meade (IRE) | 40/1 |
4 | nk | Valley Henry | 8 | Barry Geraghty | Paul Nicholls | 14/1 |
5 | 1½ | Behrajan | 8 | Richard Johnson | Henry Daly | 14/1 |
6 | 1½ | Commanche Court | 10 | Ruby Walsh | Ted Walsh (IRE) | 8/1 |
7 | 4 | Chives | 8 | Richard Guest | Henrietta Knight | 25/1 |
8 | 17 | See More Business | 13 | Joe Tizzard | Paul Nicholls | 16/1 |
9 | ¾ | You're Agoodun | 11 | Tony McCoy | Martin Pipe | 50/1 |
10 | 12 | Colonel Braxton | 8 | Kieran Kelly | Dessie Hughes (IRE) | 33/1 |
11 | 10 | Marlborough | 11 | Mick Fitzgerald | Nicky Henderson | 20/1 |
12 | 10 | Modulor | 11 | Rodi Greene | Martin Pipe | 200/1 |
PU | Fence 21 | Hussard Collonges | 8 | Russ Garritty | Peter Beaumont | 8/1 |
PU | Fence 20 | First Gold | 10 | Thierry Doumen | François Doumen (FR) | 33/1 |
Fell | Fence 3 | Beef Or Salmon | 7 | Timmy Murphy | Michael Hourigan (IRE) | 5/1 |
* The distances between the horses are shown in lengths or shorter. nk = neck; PU = pulled-up.
† Trainers are based in Great Britain unless indicated.
Further details of the winner, Best Mate :
National Hunt racing is a form of horse racing particular to France, Great Britain, and Ireland, that requires horses to jump fences and ditches. In the UK it is divided into two major distinct branches, hurdling and steeplechase, as well as flat races called "bumpers". Hurdling involved the horses jumping over obstacles called hurdles, whereas 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.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs, and during its running there are 22 fences to be jumped. The race takes place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Best Mate was an Irish-bred, English-trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was a popular horse, and his sudden death while racing made front-page news.
Henrietta Catherine Knight is an English Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Knight is best known as a trainer of National Hunt racehorses.
See More Business was a top-class National Hunt chaser in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He won the 1999 Cheltenham Gold Cup as well as the 1997 and 1999 King George VI Chase.
The 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Friday 18 March 2005. It was the 77th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Kicking King. The winner was ridden by Barry Geraghty and trained by Tom Taaffe.
The 2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Thursday, 18 March 2004. It was the 76th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Best Mate. The winner was ridden by Jim Culloty and trained by Henrietta Knight.
The 2002 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Thursday 14 March 2002. It was the 74th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by Best Mate. The winner was ridden by Jim Culloty and trained by Henrietta Knight. The pre-race favourite Looks Like Trouble finished thirteenth.
The 2000 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Thursday 16 March 2000. It was the 73rd running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by Looks Like Trouble. The winner was ridden by Richard Johnson and trained by Noel Chance. The pre-race favourite See More Business finished fourth.
The 1997 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Thursday 13 March 1997. It was the 70th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by Mr Mulligan. The winner was ridden by Tony McCoy and trained by Noel Chance. The pre-race favourite Imperial Call pulled-up before fence 18.
The Peterborough Chase is a Grade 2 National Hunt chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Huntingdon over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs, and during its running there are sixteen fences to be jumped. The race is currently scheduled in December. In 2019, the race's total prize fund was £65,000.
The 2009 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Friday March 13, 2009. It was the 81st running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Kauto Star. The winner was ridden by Ruby Walsh and trained by Paul Nicholls.
Beef Or Salmon is a multiple Grade 1 winning National Hunt racehorse. He was trained in Ireland by Michael Hourigan and owned by B J Craig And Dan McLarnon. He was most famous for defeating three Cheltenham Gold Cup winners in Best Mate, Kicking King, and War of Attrition and also for his defeat of the 2005 Grand National winner, Hedgehunter.
Jim Culloty is a racehorse trainer and retired professional National Hunt jockey who won both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season. Culloty and Mick Fitzgerald both worked for Jackie Retter, who trained at Whitstone, near Exeter, before they went their separate ways, Culloty to work for Henrietta Knight while Fitzgerald went with Nicky Henderson.
The 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Friday March 18, 2011. It was the 83rd running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Long Run who beat three previous winners of the Gold Cup in Kauto Star, Denman and defending champion Imperial Commander. Long Run was ridden by Mr Sam Waley-Cohen and trained by Nicky Henderson. Waley-Cohen became the first amateur jockey to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup since Jim Wilson on Little Owl in 1981 while Long Run was the first six-year-old to win the race since Mill House in 1963.
The 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup was the 86th annual running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup horse race and was held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday 14 March 2014.
Gay Donald was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1955 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Bred and trained in Wiltshire he made steady progress through the steeplechaseing ranks in the 1953/54 National Hunt season and developed into a top-class performer in the following year. He started a 33/1 outsider for the 1955 Gold Cup but won easily from a strong field. His later career was hampered by injury but he won several more races and finished third in the 1958 Gold Cup before being retired from racing at the age of thirteen.
The 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup was the 89th annual running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup horse race and was held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday 17 March 2017. It was won by Sizing John, ridden by Robbie Power and trained by Jessica Harrington. It was the first time that Robbie Power had ridden in the race and also the first time Jessica Harrington had an entry in the race.
The 2019 Cheltenham Gold Cup was the 91st annual running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup horse race and was held at Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire, England, on 15 March 2019.
The 2020 Cheltenham Gold Cup was the 92nd annual running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup horse race and was held at Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire, England, on 13 March 2020.