The roar at the 2nd last when Matey got a bit of room WOW, don’t think I will see another Triple Gold Cup Winner like Best Mate absolute beast of a horse 🏆🏆🏆
I love this video. On that 2nd last fence, he just glided out over it. All the others just drained energy there, but Best Mate just landed and pulled away. He was such a natural jumper. He conserved energy better over fences like no other.
Best Mate never got the credit he deserved , to win 3 gold cups in a row says alot for the horse and Hen Knight , people say the horses around at the time were not great but all he could be was the best of his own generation which he was by a distance , besides I wouldn,t call Beef or Salmon , Florida Pearl , See More Buisness , Looks Like Trouble , Commanche Court bad horses , Arkle didn,t exactly beat superstars in his gold cups and this is coming from an irishman but he could give big weights away in handicaps and still win just like Desert Orchid and Denman which is fair enough but you don,t have to be able to do that to still be a great horse , Best Mate deserves to be up their as one of the greats .
I agree with you. To reign supreme over a period of time against the best of your generation takes some doing and to win three, not one, not two, but three gold cups goes into the stratosphere as far as I'm concerned. How many really good horses can't win one despite the fact we know they are really good? Not many horses come back after winning one gold cup, three is a genuine great. Forget the handicappers and their ratings. Do they ever get it right? I don't think so very often. Lots of handicap ratings rest on one horse beating another good horse easily or by a distance. Either way it's often the case the beaten horse runs below par so it isn't a true rating anyway. The gold cup is a racehorse killer. Hardly any come back the same after this gruelling test and very few can perform at the same level.
That was the last gold cup day i went to. I have been the festival many times since but gold cup day is such mayhem i give it a miss. Very glad i went that day though. I don't think BM was a natural out & out stayer but he jumped so well he always saved enough energy to get over the line. His 2003 win was his best and people argue he didn't beat much but you knew he had it won with a circuit to go. He was that much in control. Best over a fence I have ever seen, perfect arc & and got away quick. Not flashy but so effective.
This gallop was ferocious. For Best Mate to outstay 2 stayers up the hill in this tough stamina test was hugely impressive. Please give Best Mate the credit he deserves. A really classy horse!
It was just a great day, the energy at the track was electric. This horse saved my bacon on many occasion. Barracuda and Best Mate allowed for several pints to be consumed.
Best Mate was the best jumper I’ve ever seen in person. I saw him win the Scilly Isles Novices chase at Sandown, beating Crocadee. I have never seen a horse so exhausted as Crocadee was that day and Best Mate was barely breathing! I said to my son who was with me that day that Best Mate was a horse he should follow. And blow me, I was certainly right!
Part of Best Mate's problem (apart from not having a regular adversary to come against ala Kauto vs Denman) was that he was so good: he never fell, never even looked like falling. No flashiness. He had such a high cruising speed (look at how he canters effortlessly at the top of the hill in all of his wins); he was - to use a common insult but in this case it's a high compliment - workman like. Devastatingly so. IMO to try to compare him to Kauto, Denman or Arkle is la-la land, but those three aside, he was very, very good and perhaps we will never really know just how good he was.
my uncle backed this horse. his friend had died the week before. and he put everthing in his pockets on him.. and i had never sein my uncle cry until that moment.
This was my first ever Cheltenham festival i attended, it was when it was a 3 day meeting. Never heard an atmosphere like it, so glad i was there out of all the ones iv'e attended, because it will be a hell of a long time before we see a horse like Best Mate win 3 Gold cups in a row.
A great horse. bought from the point to point fields in Ireland then to go on to win 3 gold cup, it truly was the career of ledgend,he lived the career of dreams 👌
Best Mate I think has been much underestimated as a champion. Many winners of the Gold Cup flattered only to deceive in not coming back from a big win in the race. This horse won it three times. Which says much for the horse. Its a monumental achievement. Cheltenham was undoubtedly his spiritual home. His best form was there and it would have taken a pretty good horse to beat him in the Gold Cup. And how nice for Jim that he's now won it as a trainer too.
Easy to forget that Best Mate was a notorious idler when hit the front, so his margin of superiority was often disguised. He beat typical Gold Cup fields, and he kept coming back to do it. Most winners have a chance to come back and defend or regain their titles, but very few run to the same level. It's prudish and slavery to ratings to deny that Best Mate was not one of the best ever.
It wasn't disguised in his second win, and his opponents were no slouches. I think it's just the way the races panned out previously, that gave that impression.
I don't know why some like to crab Best Mate's achievements, it took 40 yrs from Arkle for another horse to do a 3 timer in the GC & it'll likely be as long again til the next, he may not have been a Denman & able to give lumps of weight in handicaps or win multiple KG's like Kauto but around Cheltenham he was sublime, he travelled beautifully & prob the best jumper of a fence I've ever seen, he was def at his best there & the 3m 2f was his optimum trip..to run in 3 & win all 3 is some record for a GC...
Regardless of the opposition to win 3 gold cups back to back is an unbelievable achievement. I can never understand how people can be critical of the horse. To win a gold cup is hard enough but 3. Whatever was in the race he still had to get round n stay over 3m 2f. Some gold cups are better than others granted but take nothing away from this horse. He's the best jumper of a fence I've ever seen. The 2nd last is breathtaking the way culloty monovered him round and he just accelerated and glided over the fence n took it up. There's not many horses have the ability to do that. #legend#rip matey#cheltenham memories#
+jon1357911 Haha he still won 3 gold cups! So what if it wasn't the strongest of fields it doesn't matter one bit. There's a reason why arkle was the last horse to do it before best mate.. i'll let you work out the reason for that by yourself :-)
Being critical of the opposition Best Mate beat here is being critical of the opposition, not of Best Mate, so it is a perfect;y valid point to make that this was not that strong a field. Let's just say this had been Best Mate's only Gold Cup win, would he be considered an all-time great on the basis of that win alone?
I agree with the comment on Best Mate. This horse has been badly treated by history and was a much better horse than the ratings have suggested. Even in this race, his performance has been discounted by the presence of Sir Rembrandt. However, look at the manner of his victory. He came to win the race before the home turn and had his run cut off by Harbour Pilot. Jockey Jim Culloty had to hold Best Mate up, pull him to the outside and run on again. And what a response Best Mate gave when asked! He goes from over a length down to half a length ahead in just 6 strides and a jump at the 2nd last fence. Most horses can only accelerate once in a race, but Best Mate did it twice in this race - the best staying chase in the calender - and stayed on to win.
Precisely. As "great" as people would claim Denman and Kauto Star were, they couldn't emulate Best Mate by winning three Gold Cups. If anything Best Mate idled when he hit the front in 2004. The 'form" experts tell us he is inferior to the Nicholls pair but if form was as easy to work out all of the so called experts would be sunning themselves on a desert island!
I'd disagree and say he has been massively overrated. He was a beneficiary of the 'tragic generation' of French Holly, Barton, Gloria Victis, Nick Dundee, Monsignor, Cyfor Malta, Jair Du Cochet, Le Sauvignon and Looks Like Trouble - all Gold Cup class horses who died/got injured in Best Mate's era. He was a classy operator, but can't be considered a great given that he never beat a very good horse, only beat handicappers in his Gold Cups, was much less effective on soft ground and couldn't give weight and a beating to Wahiba Sands.
Beating Comanche Court, Truckers Tavern and Sir Rembrandt, no matter how easily, just proves he stayed sound and healthy for three years and can be rated 165+. Meanwhile, Denman, Kauto Star and even See More Business produced cast iron 175+ and 180+ runs, even in non-ideal conditions with much more demanding schedules.
lostsoldierthree Let's see now: French Holly - not the best of his generation even as a hurdler, and only won his debut novice chase beating 2 others (one horse never ran again, and the other was rated OR75 at best). The runner-up in the RSA Hurdle (Torboy) never completed another race again in 4 attempts. Barton - was a 9yo novice chaser and couldn't win the 2m5f Cathcart as a 10yo. Gloria Victis - fair enough, being only a 6yo he had potential to be a GC winner, but he'd already been headed when falling 2-out in the 2000 GC - suggesting he didn't stay truly the trip. Nick Dundee - couldn't beat Rinci Ri over 3-mile at levels, A potential GC winner? Hardly. Monsignor - never jumped a fence. Yes, unbeaten as a hurdler and won the RSA at the Festival, but the runner-up only won once more (a novice chase, and rated OR125 at best as a chaser) and quickly went hunting. I'd go on, but I think your memories are rose-tinted. Best Mate was only beaten by 4 horses over fences:- Jair Du Cochet over 2m5f in the Peterbro' Chase. This horse wasn't good enough to win an ordinary RSA Chase won by One Knight, but was best at trips under 2m6f Wahiba Sands over 2m3f as a novice chaser. Wahiba Sands was a OR161 horse over 2m4f but didn't stay a yard further. So no disgrace being beaten there. Beef Or Salmon over 3-mile in the Lexus in Ireland. BOS was an exceptional chaser by anyone's standard (yet you've not mentioned the horse in your list). This performance is regarded the best ever from Beef Or Salmon, so again no disgrace in being beaten by him on his home turf. Finally, Florida Pearl beat him in the King George at Kempton when Best Mate had his first attempt at 3-miles. Now, Florida Pearl is recognised as possibly the best chaser to come out of Ireland NOT to win a Gold Cup. He was a top, top 3-mile chaser and later that season he won another two Grade-1 3-mile chases at Aintree and Punchestown. He was consistently running 171 - 176, yet Best Mate ran him to less than a length on his first ever attempt at 3-mile at level weights, with jockey AP McCoy suggesting had he known the horse stayed so well he'd probably have won. Without a doubt, Best Mate was a 180+ chaser based on todays ratings. The BHA have been inflating jump ratings for about 8 years now (since 2006-07) in an attempt to create an OR200+ chaser to match Arkle. Many thought Long Run would be the horse to do it, tho' Kauto Star came closest when he won a sub-standard King George (remember, that "great" 3-mile chaser Barbers Shop being the only one chasing him to the 2nd-last fence - whereupon he stopped) by 36-lengths after which he was rated OR193. Nick Mordin wrote a great essay on that race for the Weekender, and you'd do well to look it up. The best chase performance I've seen since the demise of Arkle (I've been watching horseracing since 1967) was Denman winning the Hennessey for the 2nd-time which I rated 182. He was about 2lb better than Kauto Star when they were both fit and well, as was proved in the Gold Cup when he won.
Ian Dykes Ian, I appreciate your response, but I don't think you know the stories behind many of these horses. Are you really using French Holly's novice chase to crab his ability? He pulverised two inferiors by 30+ lengths, but the form of those rags isn't relevant. It's like saying Sprinter Sacre was poor because he 'only' beat Lightening Rod by 24 lengths on his chasing debut. The key thing to take from that race was that French Holly proved he could stay 3m+ and would have been a force in the Gold Cup picture. He was also an absolutely monstrous, giant horse in the Denman mould who would have been better as a chaser than a hurdler. That's a scary thought given that only Istabraq could stop him over hurdles. Andrew Thornton rode Sir Rembrandt, who would have beaten Best Mate in his third Gold Cup but for several crucial mistakes, but he still maintains that French Holly was easily the best horse he ever rode. Then there's Barton, who beat Best Mate hollow as a hurdler and started out over fences in devastating fashion. Then his career was wrecked by a degenerative foot problem, which saw his foot practically falling apart and poorly managed by a series of special shoes. His form went off the rails, even though he remained competitive at a lower level. The seriousness of the issue led to Barton being PTS aged 11 as his foot ruined his quality of life. He never got a fair chance to confirm his superiority over 'Matey' over fences. Nick Dundee is another I don't think you know the story of. He was about to walk all over Looks Like Trouble in that horse's RSA Chase, before falling at the top of the hill and sustaining a life-threatening leg fracture. He was nursed back to racing, but was never the same again and died after breaking down fatally. It is naive for you to use any of his runs after that injury to downgrade his form. Given that Looks Like Trouble went on to win a Gold Cup and Gold Cup replacement and was running well in Best Mate's first Gold Cup before going lame, we can only wonder what we missed in Nick Dundee. Have you watched One Knight's RSA Chase? Jair Du Cochet (not for the first time), was given an appalling ride by Jacques Ricou, held up before storming up the hill too late to catch One Knight. He certainly seemed to stay powerfully that day and when beating the solid Rince Ri in the Pillar, Gold Cup runner-up Truckers Tavern and top novice Therealbandit legless in the Pillar. It's probably a little churlish to knock One Knight too. Sure, he hardly did anything after his RSA win, but his jumping fell to pieces and cost him the Welsh National later in his career. Monsignor is a big unknown quantity, but he spat Best Mate out in the Tolworth Hurdle, which is usually seen as a springboard for future chasing types. He broke the Cheltenham course record and was unbeaten. Again, I don't think you're making sense by pointing to No Discount and Gentle Rivage's form. They were specks in the distance when Monsignor passed the line that day. When Tony McCoy stepped off Cyfor Malta after winning one of Cheltenham's big handicap chases, he was adamant that this horse would win at least one Gold Cup. His profile was very similar to that of recent Gold Cup player Exotic Dancer. Again, it's hard to say what might have happened if injury didn't ruin his career, but he's just another top class animal that got out of the way to make Best Mate's task easier. With Jair Du Cochet very arguably at least on a par with Best Mate, the loss of Le Sauvignon was an even bigger loss than Macaire's horse. The two-time French Cup winner was bought by Paul Nicholls for massive money to go novice chasing and challenge for the Gold Cup the year after. He proved himself better than leading French horses of the time Jair Du Cochet and Cyrlight and made a solid British chasing debut before losing to JDC in the Feltham. The shock defeat was explained when Le Sauvignon tragically dropped dead after the line, depriving us of a very special horse. Then there's Looks Like Trouble himself, who won a Gold Cup that was difficult to evaluate with Gloria Victis dying, See More Business on an off day and ill-fated outsiders Lake Kariba and Strong Promise challenging non-stayer Florida Pearl for the places. Still, he was the best of the era prior to Best Mate and finished lame in Best Mate's first Gold Cup, meaning that only a teenage See More Business was left from the previous era to keep him honest. Every other very good horse around Best Mate was struck down. I agree about Gloria Victis in a lot of ways. He is the horse that made me love jump racing and put up a visually incredible performance also worth noting on the figures when winning the Racing Post Chase off top weight. Giving chunks of weight and a sound beating to Marlborough is excellent by any standards. He was wilting at the end of the Gold Cup and may have been an 'Our Vic' who'd never get up that hill, but was only six and at the end of a long French and British season. Long Run looked like a non-stayer when he lost in the RSA, so one run like that isn't always conclusive. A bigger worry was Gloria Victis' tendency to jump violently right, but again Best Mate certainly benefited from avoiding such a superstar throughout his golden career. A final horse worth noting is the Irish chaser you mentioned - Beef Or Salmon. It helped Best Mate that BOS was so hopeless at Cheltenham, with a bad fall, tweaked back, general travelling issues among the excuses. Beef Or Salmon beat Best Mate in Ireland with Paul Carberry quite literally laughing at the triple Gold Cup winner at the line. Best Mate never really showed his best form on soft ground and the young Beef Or Salmon was a superb horse, but surely a true great of the modern era would have come through tests like that. That run, his attempt to give weight to Wahiba Sands and his loss to Jair Du Cochet were all admirable enough runs, but true GREATS come through when conditions aren't ideal. Make the ground soft, give him a truly top notch rival or ask him to put up a Denman-style weight-carrying effort and he couldn't do it. He was very good and one of the most accurate jumpers of all time, but certainly not great. Good luck for Best Mate and tragic bad luck for other made his Gold Cup tasks into cakewalks for any true 165+ horse. I think the positive sentiments towards Best Mate mainly spring from the affection he was held in by the public. Trained by a couple of loveable eccentrics, owned by the very friendly 'Lucky Jim' Lewis and loved by the punters for never being out of the first two, this affection may have blurred the truth of what Best Mate actually achieved in his three Gold Cups.
no one, and I mean no one should crab best mate, in his last gold cup he was never travelling as well as he did in his first two, was hemmed in by paul carberrys dirty tricks for a full 18 seconds before he could make his move, how far would he have won had he got a clear run from when he originally made his move ? a feat not achieved since arkle and will be a long time if ever achieved again, well underrated yet one of the best ever !!!!
He would have been hating the ground too. I've never understood the knocking of him he was a wonderful horse. I know he wasn't having his best season but with only really Kicking King to beat who's to say he wouldn't have won 4 too
The acheivement of winning 3 Gold Cups is obviously outstanding, but I must say looking back at this race, it was a very poor renewal. Therealbandit was essentially a novice who could throw in the odd bad jump, and he was second favourite! To use a football expression, you can only beat what's in front of you, but they weren't up to much.
a great horse Best Mate that never really gets the accolades he deserves. Unlike Kauto Star which people seem to tover hype and mention for me Kauto Star was really nothing great, more hype than anything else.. an above average horse of his generation but not in the same league as Best Mate, let alone some of those other greats, Arkle, and Flying Bolt. The latter which unfortunately happen to be around in the Arkle era so never got the real accolades and attention his rating deserved.
Hilarious to say Kauto Star was "nothing great, more hype than anything else" when he smashes Best Mate in just about every single category apart from Gold Cups won. Like quite a few people, you have an inability to distinguish between what is a great achievement (winning 3 Gold Cups) and what is a great horse. Kauto Star was a great horse, possibly the best of all time when you consider how much more competitive the sport is today than it was in the 60s, how the thoroughbred has developed thanks to scientific, selective breeding, and how all the times have gotten quicker. Here are the facts. Everything I'm about to type are truths you can check using google. Kauto Star won Grade 1s over 2 mile, 2 mile 4 furlong, 3 mile and 3 mile 2 furlong. He won on good and on very soft. He won on flat tracks and on undulating courses. He won right handed and left handed. He won a Tingle Creek, a King George and a Gold Cup in the same season. He was the first horse to reclaim the Gold Cup, having lost it to another all time great in between. Let's compare Best Mate to Kauto Star, shall we? Number of Grade 1 wins over fences in open company: Best Mate 5 Kauto Star 16 Prize Money: Best Mate £1,022,436 Kauto Star £3,375,883 (includes Betfair million pound bonus, only horse to do it) Number of Gold Cups: Best Mate 3 Kauto Star 2 Number of King Georges: Best Mate 1 Kauto Star 5 (most in history) Number of Grade 1 Chases below 3 mile: Best Mate 0 Kauto Star 3 Highest Rating: Best Mate 175 Kauto Star 191 Let's look at who Best Mate beat in his 3 Gold Cups. 2002 - by 1 3/4 lengths to Commanche Court, a 25/1 shot who only won a single Grade 1 chase in his life, and 8 lengths to a 12 year old 40/1 See More Business who was well past his best and who never won another Graded chase again. 2003 - by 10 lengths to 33/1 outsider Truckers Tavern, who never won a Grade 1 in his life and only won one other race in his life after this from 22 attempts, and 2 1/2 lengths to 40/1 outsider Harbour Pilot, who never won a Grade 1 in open company in his life and who ever won another NH race 2004 - 1/2 length to 33/1 outsider Sir Rembrandt who never won even a Grade 3 in open company in his life, and 1 1/4 length to Harbour Pilot, discussed above. The form of Best Mate's Gold Cup wins were worthless. He raced in a bad era for staying chasers, only meeting a good horse in Florida Pearl towards the end of that horses career (Florida Pearl beat Best Mate in one King George, Best Mate beat him a year later when Florida Pearl was past his best). Let's not forget that even when Best Mate was at his peak, he was beaten fairly by the likes of Beef or Salmon (who Kauto Star destroyed) and Jair Du Cochet, who unfortunately died before he could beat Best Mate in the 2004 Gold Cup. When at his best, the only horses to beat Kauto Star was Denman and Our Vic, and even then Kauto Star wasn't himself on those days, making mistakes very early in the 08 Gold Cup, then a tired horse after that at Aintree. Both these horses were Grade 1 winners. Compare the above to who Kauto Star beat in his Gold Cups. 2007 - 2 1/2 lengths to 9/2 second favourite Exotic Dancer, who had won the November & December Handicaps at Cheltenham, the Cotswold before the Gold Cup and the Aintree Bowl (now a Grade 1) after the Gold Cup. Exotic Dancer also went on to win the Grade 1 Lexus. A class act who loved Cheltenham. 2009 - 13 lengths to 7/1 shot Denman, who had previously won the Hennessy off top weight and a rating of 161, won the Grade 1 Lexus and won the Gold Cup in 2008, and who would go on to win another Hennessy off top weight and a rating of 176, putting in one of the greatest performances in history, giving 22lbs and a 3 length beating to another Grade 1 winner in What A Friend. An all time great who loved Cheltenham (won RSA there too). Those Kauto Star defeated were vastly superior horses to those Best Mate defeated. And he did it at a place and over a distance he clearly didn't like. Kauto Star was much more at home over shorter and away from Cheltenham, yet still achieved 2 Gold Cup wins. Cheltenham isn't the be all and end all either. Racing does take place elsewhere you know. We could talk about how Kauto Star raced more than Best Mate, who was wrapped in cotton wool and only seen 3 times a season. We could talk about Kauto Star defeating Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander in a Grade 1 at Haydock. We could talk about Kauto Star coming back at age 11 to defeat Long Run, another Gold Cup winner. We could talk about Kauto Star smashing Voy Por Ustedes over 2 mile in the Tingle Creek, when Kauto Star had already won a Grade 1 over 3 miles and the fact Voy Por Ustedes went on to be Champion Chaser that season. We could talk about Kauto Star being the only horse in history to be declared 2 mile champion, 2 1/2 mile champion and 3 mile plus champion all in the same season. Best Mate did not come remotely close to achieving anything like this. Best Mate was a 3 miler who needed good ground and would have been pulled up in a Tingle Creek, let alone win 2 like Kauto Star. Best Mate was nowhere near as versatile as Kauto Star and even in Best Mate's ideal conditions, he wasn't as good as Kauto Star either - Kauto would have slapped him on good ground everywhere apart from Cheltenham. For these reasons above, Kauto Star is vastly superior racehorse and to call him "more hype than anything else" shows how ignorant or foolish you are.
I agree denman on form was better . winning handicaps under big burdens. Also finished ahead of kauto in more gold cups. Also when kauto beat him, denman had recently had heart problems. Desert orchid better too. And arkle is from another stratosphere.....
Not taking anything away from Best Mate, but he couldn’t live with Monsignor over hurdles. But for injury, Monsignor could have been one of the all time greats.
Not taking anything away from Best Mate 3 gold cups is 3 gold cups! However compared the hurdling crown this gold cup was a poor field. Apart from First Gold who was 11 at this stage, and Beef Or Salmon who never liked Cheltenham, the field was substandard. Keen Leader and Irish Hussar were promising novices who never made it to the top levels after. The following year they were in a handicap chase at the festival. Therealbandit wasn't good enough for a novice to be competing. Harbour Pilot was useful at best. Truckers Tavern was out of form. Sir Rembrandt was good but not quite Gold Cup class, however his run here was terrific. Finally Alexander Banquet was warming up for the National and wasn’t really a serious competitor here.
ARKLE IS PROBABLY THE BEST EVER HOWEVER WHAT BEST MATE DID AROUND CHELTS SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN BUT I FEEL HE DOESNT GET THE PLAUDITS HE DESERVED, HE EQUALED ARKLES RECORD AND IF NOT FOR THE FOOT AND MOUTH AND HIS UNTIMELY DEATH HE COULD OF DONE 4 OR 5 IN A ROW , SUCH A SHAME WE NEVER GOT TO SEE THEM RACES HE COULD OF BEEN IN , WOULD LOVED TO OF SEEN HIM AGAINST AN INFORM DENMAN AND KAUTO STAR
Poor renewal but I guess he could only beat what was put in front of him. My issue is not so much the Gold Cups but the fact he was campaigned unadventurously by connections so as much as 3 Gold Cups is a great achievement, he'll never be held in the same esteem as the likes of Burrough Hill Lad, Desert Orchid, Denman etc.
Correct he still was a top class horse and should be given the credit that he won 3 Gold Cups, but yes in this field it was weak, Kingscliff, One Knight, Strong Flow and Jair Du Cochet all expected contenders were absent and that didn’t leave much competition. Beef Or Salmon being the best of them but he didn’t like Cheltenham, First Gold was class in his day but he was beginning to age at that point, not much else in that field, Harbour Pilot and Sir Rembrandt being useful at best, Truckers Tavern out of form. Keen Leader and Irish Hussar already had their best days behind them, Therealbandit wasn’t up to that class, and Alexander Banquet was using the race as a training exercise for the National.
Michael Fuller I don't think you can take to heart csb's comment about Therealbandit, Coneygree is a novice in name only and much better than Therealbandit ever was. The 2014 Gold Cup was excellent, but the 2013 race was probably the worse I've ever seen, and to prove it the winner and placed horses from 2013 were all blown away in Coneygree's Gold Cup. How Lord Marlborough won in 2013 I'll never know, he looked unwilling throughout the entire course of the race, and his performances since have been dismal, and that' s putting it kindly. Now they've ironed out Coneygree's health issues I hope he can go on with uninterrupted training to become one of the greats.
Best Mate would have been to good for Arkle. Best Mate had to contest with bigger fields and races run at different paces. Arkle scared the competition off and Mill House was past his best when he beat him. And there was not the standard of jockeys then as there are today
Pity beef or salmon couldn't keep up, one more furlong and he would have won. Best horse never to win a gold cup, he beat harbour pilot for fun Ireland
Paul R best horse never to win the GC.!!! I think you will find at least 20 in that queue before him. You never heard of Wayward Lad,Pendil and One Man?
It is a bit rough comparing him to Arkle as Best Mate beat 18,15,10 horses in his gold cups and Arkle fields was 5,4,4 ,Arkle was more famed for his handicap exploits badgering top horses and giving them 2stone and beating them so on gold cup fronts Best Mate was a better gold cup winner for what he did in the gold cup but wasn't a better horse,and before you come back with Mill House was beaten two times in the gold cup by Arkle but the rest of his opponents was no better than what Beat Mate beat,although Arkle beat them out of sight but unfair slag any gold cup winner off like I have been reading as you don't just get given 3 Cheltenham gold cups
Istabraq unproven over fences. Great hurdlers don't always take to fences. Best Mate was a great in his era and history has proven it is mightily difficult to win 3 gold cups in any era.
Arkle beat the same 3 horses each year... Best mate beat a lot more horses and he is better than Arkle. Full stop. Arkle was good in the 60's but in the last 40 years after that horses have got better. I basically don't rate Arkle as the best. I would have at least 30 gold cup winners since rated higher. even horses who ran in it and got beat like florida pearl and first gold I would have rated higher than arkle. hugely overrated horse!
+Kevin Brown youre on a massive wind up mission, or clinically insane if you think all of that!! 30 gold winners better than arkle??? hahahahahaha ..where do i start... ok, look at what arkle did in the handicaps he won.. regularly giving upwards of 35 lbs in big field Hennessy GCs to subsequent gold cup horses like stalbridge colonist ... or still holding the track record to this day in the gallaher gold cup when carrying 12st 7... or getting beaten 1/2 length in the king george when travelling the last mile with a broken bone in his foot..... ffs is it any wonder he sacred them all off in the GCs that he won ... oh and where is the scientific proof that all the horses are better nowadays !! greatest load of garbage ive ever heard... i neednt be applying for that timeform job if i were you ;)
