The 2002 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 which took place at Cheltenham

Cheltenham Racecourse

Cheltenham Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing events, located at Prestbury Park, in the suburban village of Prestbury on the outskirts of the English town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire...

 on Thursday March 14, 2002. It was the 74th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup

Cheltenham Gold Cup

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...

, and it was won by Best Mate

Best Mate

Best Mate was a famous English trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup...

. The winner was ridden by Jim Culloty and trained by Henrietta Knight. The pre-race favourite Looks Like Trouble finished thirteenth.

It was the first running of the Gold Cup for two years, as it had been cancelled in 2001 because of a foot-and-mouth crisis.

Race details

• Sponsor: Tote
  The Tote
  The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board, is a British bookmaker with head offices in Wigan. It was owned from its formation in 1928 by the UK Government but was sold to Betfred in July 2011. Under the brand totesport the Tote has 514 high street betting shops, outlets on Britain's 60...
  
  
• Winner's prize money: £174,000.00
• Going: Good
• Number of runners: 18
• Winner's time: 6m 50.1s

Full result

	*	Horse	Age	Jockey	Trainer †	SP Starting Prices In horse racing, the starting price is the odds prevailing in the on-course fixed-odds betting market at the time a race begins. The method by which SPs are set for each runner varies in different countries but is generally by consensus of an appointed panel on the basis of their observations of...
1		Best Mate Best Mate Best Mate was a famous English trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup...	7	Jim Culloty Jim Culloty Jim Culloty is a racehorse trainer and retired professional National Hunt jockey who won both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season....	Henrietta Knight	7/1
2	1¾	Commanche Court Commanche Court Commanche Court is an Irish thoroughbred racehorse trained in Ireland by Ted Walsh. The son of Commanche Run gave his trainer his one and only Cheltenham Festival winner when landing the 1997 Triumph Hurdle under Norman Williamson.In 2000 he gave Ted Walsh and his son Ruby Walsh a first Irish...	9	Ruby Walsh Ruby Walsh Ruby Walsh is the reigning Irish National Hunt champion jockey. He is the second child, and eldest son, of former champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and his wife Helen.-Success:...	Ted Walsh Ted Walsh Ted Walsh is an amateur jockey turned racehorse trainer, based in Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. He was born and raised in Co. Cork. As a rider, one of his most important wins was on Attitude Adjuster in the 1986 Cheltenham Festival Foxhunter Chase...  (IRE)	25/1
3	8	See More Business See More Business See More Business was a top-class National Hunt chaser in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He won the 1999 Cheltenham Gold Cup as well as the 1997 and 1999 King George VI Chase. He was trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Mick Fitzgerald in two of those races...	12	Joe Tizzard	Paul Nicholls Paul Nicholls (horse racing) Paul Nicholls is a British National Hunt horse trainer with stables at Ditcheat, Somerset. A relatively successful jump jockey, Nicholls has become the leading National Hunt trainer of his generation, finishing the 2007-2008 season with 155 winners and a record £4 million in prize money...	40/1
4	6	Marlborough	10	Dean Gallagher	Nicky Henderson Nicky Henderson Nicky Henderson is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer twice.Henderson, educated at Eton College, has been a trainer since 1978, based at Seven Barrows near Lambourn, Berkshire...	12/1
5	5	What's Up Boys	8	Paul Flynn	Philip Hobbs Philip Hobbs Philip Hobbs is a British racehorse trainer specializing mainly in National Hunt racing. He is based at stables near Minehead, Somerset....	33/1
6	½	Alexander Banquet	9	Barry Geraghty Barry Geraghty Barry Geraghty is an Irish jockey.Geraghty rode his first winner in January 1997, three years later he became the Irish Champion jump jockey for the first time. He rode his first Cheltenham winner on the Jessica Harrington trained Moscow Flyer in the 2002 Arkle Chase.He won the Grand National in...	Willie Mullins Willie Mullins Willie Mullins is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is based at Closutton, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, Ireland...  (IRE)	12/1
7	¾	Moscow Express	10	Shay Barry	Frances Crowley (IRE)	66/1
8	12	Cyfor Malta	9	Rodi Greene	Martin Pipe Martin Pipe Martin Pipe was a racehorse trainer until his retirement in April 2006.The son of a West-Country bookmaker, Pipe was an amateur jockey before turning his attention to training in 1974 at Nicholashayne, Devon, near Wellington, England....	25/1
9	3	Foxchapel King	9	David Casey	Mouse Morris Mouse Morris Michael 'Mouse' Morris is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey.As a jockey he rode Skymas to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1976 and 1977 and Billycan to win the 1977 Irish Grand National, while his most notable successes as a trainer have come with Buck House in the 1983 Supreme...  (IRE)	12/1
10	7	Lord Noelie	9	Richard Guest	Henrietta Knight	16/1
11	¾	Florida Pearl Florida Pearl Florida Pearl is an Irish-bred race horse, who raced in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was owned by Mrs Violet O'Leary and trained by Willie Mullins...	10	Conor O'Dwyer	Willie Mullins Willie Mullins Willie Mullins is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is based at Closutton, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, Ireland...  (IRE)	10/1
12	6	Bacchanal	8	Mick Fitzgerald Mick Fitzgerald Mick Fitzgerald is an Irish National Hunt jockey who rode mainly in Great Britain. He has ridden the winners of the Grand National, on Rough Quest in 1996, and the Cheltenham Gold Cup on See More Business in 1999. He was the stable jockey for Nicky Henderson and was leading jockey at the...	Nicky Henderson Nicky Henderson Nicky Henderson is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer twice.Henderson, educated at Eton College, has been a trainer since 1978, based at Seven Barrows near Lambourn, Berkshire...	6/1
13	dist	Looks Like Trouble Looks Like Trouble Looks Like Trouble was a horse that was trained by Noel T. Chance. In 2002, he was well fancied for the Gold Cup at the odds of 9-2 and was ridden by Richard Johnson. At the 10th fence, he blundered very badly and almost had lost a complete chance in the race. He eventually went on to win by 5...	10	Richard Johnson Richard Johnson (jockey) Richard Johnson is an English National Hunt jockey.-Background:Johnson comes from a racing family with his father being an amateur jockey and his mother, Sue Johnson, a successful trainer.-Jockey career:...	Noel Chance Noel Chance Noel Chance is an Irish racehorse trainer based at Upper Lambourn, Berkshire.He has trained two winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Mr Mulligan in 1997 and Looks Like Trouble in 2000.-References:*...	9/2 fav
Fell	Fence 22	Sackville	9	John Cullen	Frances Crowley (IRE)	33/1
PU	Fence 21	Go Ballistic	13	Carl Llewellyn	Henrietta Knight	66/1
PU	Fence 20	Behrajan	7	Norman Williamson Norman Williamson Norman Williamson is a professional jockey in the Irish National Hunt.- References :...	Henry Daly	11/1
PU	Fence 19	Shotgun Willy	8	Timmy Murphy Timmy Murphy Timothy James Murphy , commonly known as Timmy Murphy, is a National Hunt jockey who overcame difficult personal problems to win the 2008 John Smith's Grand National at Aintree Racecourse on the horse Comply or Die. He recorded his 1,000th winner at Taunton on 21 January 2010.- References :...	Paul Nicholls Paul Nicholls (horse racing) Paul Nicholls is a British National Hunt horse trainer with stables at Ditcheat, Somerset. A relatively successful jump jockey, Nicholls has become the leading National Hunt trainer of his generation, finishing the 2007-2008 season with 155 winners and a record £4 million in prize money...	25/1
PU	Fence 12	Shooting Light	9	Tony McCoy Tony McCoy Anthony Peter McCoy OBE , commonly known as A. P. McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish horse racing jockey....	Martin Pipe Martin Pipe Martin Pipe was a racehorse trainer until his retirement in April 2006.The son of a West-Country bookmaker, Pipe was an amateur jockey before turning his attention to training in 1974 at Nicholashayne, Devon, near Wellington, England....	10/1

* The distances between the horses are shown in lengths

Length (horse racing)

A horse length, or simply length, is a unit of measurement that refers to the length of a horse from nose to tail, approximately 8 feet, It is commonly used in Thoroughbred horse racing, where it describes the distance between horses in a race...

 or shorter. PU = pulled-up.
† Trainers are based in Great Britain unless indicated.

Winner's details

Further details of the winner, Best Mate

Best Mate

Best Mate was a famous English trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup...

:

• Foaled: January 28, 1995 in Ireland
  Ireland
  Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
  
  
• Sire: Un Desperado; Dam: Katday (Miller's Mate)
• Owner: Jim Lewis
  Jim Lewis (racehorse owner)
  Jim Lewis is a British racehorse owner, particularly noted for being the owner of thrice Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate and also Edredon Bleu. He frequently works with trainers Henrietta Knight and Venetia Williams and jockey Jim Culloty. He is a supporter of Aston Villa FC, whose famous...
  
  
• Breeder: Jacques Van't Hart