Best Mate – Three Cheltenham Gold Cups and a Place in Racing History

Let’s go back to early 2000s Britain for a moment. Imagine the chill Cotswold air, the buzz that crackles through Cheltenham each March.

If you were there, or even if you just tuned in from your sofa, there was one name on everyone’s lips: Best Mate.

He wasn’t flashy, didn’t come with blaring headlines on every outing, but for dedicated race fans and the wider public alike, Best Mate quietly became the heartbeat of National Hunt racing.

For fans of all sports here in Britain, not just racing devotees, his calm brilliance struck a chord as the kind of excellence anyone could appreciate.

Irish-bred and English-trained by the wonderful Henrietta Knight, this bay gelding managed what most horses, perhaps even their trainers, can only ever dream of: he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup not just once, but three times in a row.

As a racing fan, even now, just mentioning Best Mate sparks a whole reel of memories: spring afternoons, Jim Culloty perched calmly on his back, and that smooth leap that never seemed to falter.

What follows is the journey of a horse who crossed the line between sporting star and national treasure, and why, all these years on, Best Mate’s name is still spoken with such warmth by so many.

Simple Beginnings

Best Mate wasn’t born into immediate stardom. Foaled on 28 January 1995 in Ireland, he was bred by Jacques Van’t Hart, sired by Un Desperado out of Katday.

Long before the crowds, he learned his trade in Irish point-to-points, those rugged schooling grounds for future stars.

When Henrietta Knight and her husband, jockey legend Terry Biddlecombe, first set eyes on him, there probably wasn’t a neon sign above his stable.

Knight saw in him the blend of temperament and athleticism that she always searched for: straightforward to train, natural over an obstacle, with conformation you’d love to see in any discipline.

Knight’s faith didn’t take long to be justified. Best Mate made his debut under Rules at Cheltenham itself, winning a bumper in November 1999.

A few weeks later, he proved his mettle over hurdles at Sandown. In his first season, he was runner-up twice, once in the Tolworth Hurdle, and then in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, before ending on a high at Aintree’s Mersey Novices’ Hurdle.

He quickly picked up a reputation for being both swift and sensible: always there or thereabouts, and never getting into trouble at a fence.

Move to chasing, and the upward curve just kept on going. That 2000/2001 season, he took the novice scene in his stride, winning at Exeter, Cheltenham (the November Novices’ Chase), and Sandown (the Scilly Isles).

Interestingly, his first crack at the Cheltenham Festival as a potential Arkle winner was thwarted, not by defeat, but by the foot-and-mouth outbreak that forced cancellation of the 2001 meeting.

The Gold Cup Years

2002: The Breakthrough Win

The 2002 Cheltenham Gold Cup found Best Mate walking into the parade ring with all the signs of promise, but still as the plucky upstart in a field packed with established stayers.

He had only six chases under his belt, an almost unheard-of lack of experience for a Gold Cup hopeful.

Under the calm guidance of Jim Culloty, Best Mate settled sweetly through the early exchanges, racing with an easy rhythm that seemed to belie the gravity of the occasion.

Best Mate approached the last two fences with his trademark smoothness, ears pricked, jumping boldly but never extravagant.

Culloty asked for a decisive effort up the punishing Cheltenham hill and the horse responded as if he’d been waiting for this all his life.

He surged ahead, holding off Commanche Court with a burst of speed that drew gasps and then roars from the stands.

The win gave trainer Henrietta Knight her first Gold Cup, an emotional triumph not only for her but the small, tight-knit team behind Best Mate.

It was quickly clear this was no fluke: the professionalism, agility, and composure on display set Best Mate apart.

2003: Cementing Greatness

Returning in 2003, Best Mate didn’t just have to be good, he had to shoulder expectation. Having won the King George VI Chase over Christmas, he was now the undisputed favourite.

The field in that year’s Gold Cup was stronger and the ground softer, but the pressure seemed to bounce off Best Mate’s easy-going temperament.

From flag-fall, he raced with poise, never wasting energy, always travelling within himself.

As the race developed, rivals tried to force the pace, but Culloty kept his cool, sitting motionless as others began to stir their mounts.

Turning for home, Best Mate moved up, loomed level with the leaders, and, when asked, produced a turn of foot that simply left his rivals flat-footed.

He drew clear on the run-in, eventually winning by an emphatic ten lengths, the biggest winning margin in over a decade.

This performance confirmed Best Mate’s class, as he became the first horse since the legendary L’Escargot in the 1970s to win back-to-back Gold Cups.

2004: The Historic Third

When Cheltenham rolled around in 2004, it felt like the Gold Cup was building towards a coronation. Every eye was on Best Mate.

Around the paddock, there was both excitement and nervous energy, talk that they might be about to witness history. Despite all his skill and experience, the race itself proved anything but straightforward.

Hemmed in along the inside rail for much of the contest, Best Mate had to bide his time, forced to wait for a gap as others jostled for position.

For a split second, it looked as though the moment might pass him by. Then, with two fences to jump, Culloty managed to switch him out.

Best Mate, as always, responded fluently: his leap at the last was pure class, lifting him into contention.

He had to dig deep up the hill as Sir Rembrandt and Harbour Pilot closed in, but Best Mate kept finding, pulling out one last surge to win by a half-length.

The crowd’s response was electric. Henrietta Knight hugged Culloty and the team, tears flowing.

Racing fans knew they had seen something extraordinary. Best Mate had matched Arkle, with three consecutive wins in the sport’s most storied steeplechase.

Never again would he compete at the Festival: his last race there destined to be the defining moment of a modern jump racing legend.

Records and the Reputation

Best Mate’s record stands as a blueprint of consistency: 22 career starts, 14 wins, 7 seconds, and not a single fall.

He came first or second in every race he finished (save his final start, tragic for reasons we’ll come to).

Over his career, he collected six Grade 1 races, four Grade 2s, and over £1million in prize money.

Every time he ran, you knew you’d get a run for your money: a clever, agile, and reliable jumper.

Tragedy and Tribute

Best Mate’s career and life ended abruptly in November 2005, competing in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter.

Pulled up after showing signs of distress, he collapsed and passed away, the suspected cause a heart attack.

Owner Jim Lewis first wished to have him buried at Exeter, but regulations wouldn’t allow it (a sad consequence of recent animal health legislation).

Instead, Best Mate was cremated, and his ashes were laid to rest beside the winning post at Cheltenham, right in the shadow of the course that had made him a legend.

A plaque was also placed at Exeter, near where he died as a dual tribute for a horse who had left his mark at both tracks.

His achievements were rare, the sort you might not see again for decades.

He was one of only four horses to have ever won three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups, and the most recent to do so. He was a legend.