Bet365 Gold Cup
Grade 3 race | |
Location | Sandown Park Esher, England |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1957 |
Race type | Steeplechase |
Sponsor | Bet365 |
Website | Sandown Park |
Race information | |
Distance | 3m 5f (5,934 metres) |
Surface | Turf |
Track | Right-handed |
Qualification | Five-years-old and up |
Weight | Handicap |
Purse | £115,000 (2021) 1st: £64,711 |
2024 | ||
Minella Cocooner | Annual Invictus | Nick Rockett |
Previous years | ||
---|---|---|
2023 | ||
Kitty's Light | Moroder | Revels Hill |
2022 | ||
Hewick | Musical Slave | Kitty's Light |
2021 | ||
Potterman | Kitty's Light | Enrilo |
1990-1988 | ||
---|---|---|
1990 | ||
Mr Frisk | Durham Edition | Four Trix |
1989 | ||
Brown Windsor | Sam Da Vinci | Charter Party |
1988 | ||
Desert Orchid | Kildimo | Strands of Gold |
The Bet365 Gold Cup is a Grade 3 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (3 miles, 4 furlongs and 166 yards, or 5,784 metres), and during its running there are twenty-four fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late April.
History
[edit]The event was established in 1957, and it was originally called the Whitbread Gold Cup. It was sponsored by Whitbread Brewers at the instigation of Colonel Bill Whitbread, the company's chairman, who had twice ridden in the Grand National as an amateur jockey. It was the first commercial sponsorship in British sport, and the longest-running until it ended in 2001.[1]
In recent years the race has been sponsored by At the Races (2002–03), Betfred (2004–07) and Bet365 (2008–). The record for the longest-running sponsorship of a British horse race is now held by the Hennessy Gold Cup, which was launched seven months after the "Whitbread" and was sponsored by Hennessy until the 2016 running.
The Bet365 Gold Cup takes place at a meeting which features both jump and flat races and marks the end of the National Hunt racing season in Great Britain. Other events at this meeting include the Celebration Chase, the Gordon Richards Stakes and the Sandown Mile.
Records
[edit]Most successful horse (2 wins):
- Larbawn – 1968, 1969
- Diamond Edge – 1979, 1981
- Topsham Bay – 1992, 1993
- Ad Hoc – 2001, 2003
Leading jockey (3 wins):
- Ron Barry – Titus Oates (1971), Charlie Potheen (1973), The Dikler (1974)
Leading trainer (7 wins):
- Fulke Walwyn – Taxidermist (1958), Mill House (1967), Charlie Potheen (1973), The Dikler (1974), Diamond Edge (1979, 1981), Special Cargo (1984)
Winners
[edit]- ^ a b c d e amateur rider
- ^ The 1973 edition was run at Newcastle over 3 miles and 6 furlongs
- ^ a b c d Proud Tarquin (1974), Cahervillahow (1991), Givus a Buck (1993) and Enrilo (2021) all finished first but were disqualified following a Stewards' Enquiry
- ^ The 2020 running was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom[2]
See also
[edit]- Horse racing in Great Britain
- List of British National Hunt races
- Recurring sporting events established in 1957 – this race is included under its original title, Whitbread Gold Cup.
External links
[edit]- Race Recordings (1957-2003) youtube.com
References
[edit]- ^ "Whitbread ends Sandown link". bbc.co.uk. 19 December 2001. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
- ^ "Coronavirus: Horse racing in Great Britain suspended until end of April". BBC Sport. 17 March 2020.
- pedigreequery.com – Gold Cup Handicap Chase – Sandown.
- The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books. 1993. p. 245. ISBN 1-873626-15-0.