Features / Dan Fitch / 21 December 2010 /

Dan Fitch takes a look at Kauto Star, Best Mate, Arkle and the other greatest ever Cheltenham Gold Cup horses.

The Gold Cup is the highlight of the Cheltenham festival. To win it once is an outstanding achievement. To win it more than once guarantees horse racing immortality.

Here are the 7 greatest ever Cheltenham Gold Cup horses.

7. Easter Hero - 2 Gold Cup Wins

Easter Hero is often referred to as one of the greatest horses to never win the Grand National, where it was disappointed on three occasions, but it did twice taste victory at the Gold Cup.

In 1929 and again in 1930, Easter Hero won the Gold Cup by more than twenty lengths. Despite never winning the National, many experts think that Easter Hero was the greatest steeplechaser before Arkle came along.

6. L'Escargot - 2 Gold Cup Wins

Though most famous for beating Red Rum in the 1975 Grand National, L'Escargot had already made his name by twice winning the Gold Cup, in 1970 and 1971.

L'Escargot's first Gold Cup victory in 1970 was notable for the fact that it started as a 33/1 outsider. Only the 100/1 winner Norton's Coin has ever won a Gold Cup at longer odds.

5. Kauto Star - 2 Gold Cup Wins

The French-bred Kauto Star is the only horse to have regained a Gold Cup and has also the only horse to win the King George VI Chase four consecutive times.

Having won the Gold Cup as favourite in 2007, Kauto Star was beaten by his stablemate Denman in 2008. The Paul Nicholls horse bounced back to regain the Gold Cup in 2009, as he defeated Denman by 13 lengths, with a run described by Timeform as: "Arguably the best performance in the race since Arkle."

4. Cottage Rake - 3 Gold Cup Wins

Cottage Rake was failed by a vet on three separate examinations, before embarking on a jumping career in which the horse won three Cheltenham Gold Cups.

Consecutive victories in 1948,1949 and 1950 saw Cottage Rake become only the second horse to win the Gold Cup three times in a row. After his third victory, Cottage Rake completely lost form, but had already done enough to write it's name into the history books.

3. Best Mate - 3 Gold Cup Wins

Best Mate won three consecutive Gold Cups between 2002 and 2004. It is possible that the horse and jockey Jim Culloty would have gone on to eclipse the legendary Arkle and win a fourth Gold Cup, but Best Mate pulled out of the race in 2005 having burst a blood vessel just eight days before the race.

That same year, Best Mate hit the front pages, after he suffered a heart attack and died while racing at Exeter. Best Mate's ashes were buried beside the winning post at Cheltenham, where he had enjoyed so many triumphs.

2. Arkle - 3 Gold Cup Wins

Arkle won the Gold Cup in 1964, 1965 and 1966. Such was Arkle's dominance at the time, that it is likely that he would have gone on to win the race again, but a fractured pedal bone saw the horse put out for retirement.

At 212, Arkle's Timeform rating is still the highest ever awarded to a steeplechaser (Kauto Star is the joint third highest ever on 191). Arkle also holds the record of being the shortest priced favourite in any Gold Cup, having triumphed in 1966 at 1/10.

1. Golden Miller - 5 Gold Cup Wins

The most successful Gold Cup horse of all time was Golden Miller, who won the race five times consecutively between 1932 and 1936. As there was no Gold Cup staged in either 1931 or 1937, it's possible that the thoroughbred could have had an even better record.

As well as having won more Gold Cups than any other horse, Golden Miller also remains the only horse to have won the Cheltenham classic and the Grand National in the same year. In 1934 Golden Miller won the Gold Cup, before going on to break the Aintree track record in the National.

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