The Magic Number: Three unforgettable Paddy Power Gold Cup winners

Our Vic, 2005: Tony McFadden

There is little doubt that success at Cheltenham can help cement a horse's legacy. Take Desert Orchid and One Man, for example. Of course, both were top-notch chasers that had won some of racing's most prestigious prizes, but they will arguably be most fondly remembered for finally conquering the Cheltenham hill, righting the numerous wrongs they had suffered at Prestbury Park over the years.

Our Vic may not have been in quite the same class as Desert Orchid or One Man, but he did suffer similar Cheltenham misfortune in the early stages of his career, to such an extent that it threatened to derail the progress of a highly-promising young horse. Having toiled up the punishing, seemingly never-ending hill in the 2004 Royal SunAlliance Chase, Our Vic took a crashing fall at the final fence in the Bonusprint Gold Cup on his seasonal return- where he lay prone for a number of minutes- before failing to complete in the 2005 Festival Trophy on his next start. Three starts at Cheltenham had left Our Vic's band of supporters utterly dejected.

It was therefore a great moment when, with so many questions to answer, Our Vic powered home in the 2005 Paddy Power Gold Cup, proving just why he had always been held in the highest regard and touted to reach the very top. 

Punters, perhaps placing their faith in the ability of master trainer Martin Pipe as much as the horse, piled into Our Vic, sending him off as the 9-2 favourite in a typically-competitive renewal. Always travelling strongly and jumping better than had often been the case in the past, Our Vic picked up the running four fences from home, cranking up the pressure on his rivals as they gradually cracked. Our Vic faced a stern and persistent challenge from Monkerhostin, the horse that had benefited from his crashing fall in the Bonusprint, but he was not be denied, erasing memories of a leaden-legged finish to the SunAlliance Chase as he provided Pipe with an unprecedented eighth- and final- success in the race.

Exotic Dancer, 2006: Keith Melrose

Before we start, I ought to disclose that I did back him. Though over the years I almost certainly gave it all back in the belief that, one of these days, he'd finally beat Kauto Star.

Foolish though it evidently was to continually oppose one of the finest chasers to draw breath with him, it does say something about the talent- and the ability to induce frustration- that Exotic Dancer possessed. He underachieved as a hurdler, only showing what he could do when third at 50/1 for the Aintree Hurdle. He similarly failed to ignite as a novice chaser, winning just once from four tries and not seen after falling at the first in the Wayward Lad on Boxing Day.

It looked as though his second season over fences would be a case of more of the same when he went down tamely to Turpin Green at Carlisle, but just five days later that would all change quite spectacularly. 

Put in cheekpieces for the first time, the Exotic Dancer that we came to know and love (some of us perhaps too much) revealed himself for the first time in the 2006 Paddy Power. Ridden with measured intent by AP McCoy he was still last as late as three out, yet from there swept to a final-fence lead, ultimately pulling three lengths clear of Vodka Bleu. Timeform declared that it was 'hardly a vintage renewal', but history will judge the 2006 Paddy Power more kindly, those in behind including Butler's Cabin, who would win the following spring's Irish National, and Tamarinbleu.

A return to Cheltenham for the December Gold Cup was Exotic Dancer's next assignment and there, from a 10-lb higher mark, he'd beat Knowhere in even more taking style. It was a performance that demanded a step up in grade, specifically to the King George little more than two weeks later when he would meet Kauto Star for the first time. That was when the frustration started all over again; at least from here on Exotic Dancer's problems were not to be of his own making.

Great Endeavour, 2011: Joe Rendall

David Johnson and the Pipes teamed up to take many of jump racing's biggest handicaps, and in terms of achievement Great Endeavour's victory in the 2011 Paddy Power Gold Cup stands up there with their very best. It is with an undercurrent of pathos that we look back at the victory, as both the likeable grey and his owner have now passed away, but it is a performance which deserves re-visiting.

Great Endeavour had won the Byrne Group Plate over C&D in 2010, and despite being too fresh in his seasonal reappearance in the Paddy Power Gold Cup the following November he suggested there was more to come when finishing sixth despite his hard pulling. He continued to progress with a narrow second in a competitive renewal of the December Gold Cup a month later and looked a horse who was certain to add to his Cheltenham handicap tally at some stage.

That opportunity came with his seasonal reappearance in November 2011, where he lined up in the Paddy Power Gold Cup 5 lb higher than the year before and with a point to prove. He coped far better than his rivals with the searching gallop set and was always well placed, galloping on strongly after being sent on three out and eventually scoring by seven lengths from Quantitativeeasing, who would go on to win the December Gold Cup three weeks later.

Great Endeavour was subsequently sent off favourite for the Hennessy, bidding for the double achieved by Johnson's Celestial Gold in 2004, but he could only manage fourth at Newbury, ultimately finding the trip a little beyond him. As it happened, his Paddy Power triumph was to be his last hurrah as he sadly had to be put down following a freak accident in his field the following spring.

History mightn't place Great Endeavour in the same bracket as Our Vic or Well Chief, but his Paddy Power victory ensured that, in Timeform's eyes at least, he ended his days among Johnson's most able charges. He was also one of the most willing ever to carry the famous blue-and-green silks, which perhaps counts as an even more exclusive club.

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