The 2003 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 13, 2003. It was the 75th 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 the pre-race favourite 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.

Best Mate became the first horse to win consecutive runnings of the Gold Cup since L'Escargot

L'Escargot (horse)

L'Escargot was a racehorse notable as being the horse who halted the winning run of Red Rum at the Aintree Grand National in 1975. L’Escargot was owned by Raymond R. Guest, and ridden by champion Irish jockey Tommy Carberry. He was trained by Dan Moore, and beat Red Rum by 15 lengths.He won as a...

 in 1970 and 1971.

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: £203,000.00
• Going: Good
• Number of runners: 15
• Winner's time: 6m 39.0s

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...	8	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	13/8 fav
2	10	Truckers Tavern	8	Davy Russell Davy Russell Davy Russell is an Irish jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. Russell's first win as a professional jockey was for English-based Irish trainer Ferdy Murphy on Inn Antique in a novice hurdle at Sedgefield, 12 November 2002...	Ferdy Murphy	33/1
3	2½	Harbour Pilot	8	Paul Carberry Paul Carberry Paul Carberry is an Irish National Hunt jockey.- Background :He was born on 9 February 1974. He hails from a racing family. He is the son of jockey Tommy Carberry, who was a famous National Hunt jockey in the 1960s and 1970s. His uncle is Arthur Moore, one of Ireland's leading National Hunt trainers...	Noel Meade Noel Meade Noel Meade is a famous horse trainer from Ireland. He established Tu Va Stables in Co. Meath, Ireland as a place to train his horses.Meade began his career as a horse trainer in 1971, but it was not until 1978 that Meade started to become well recognized. Sweet Mint, winner of the Cork and Orrery...  (IRE)	40/1
4	nk	Valley Henry	8	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...	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...	14/1
5	1½	Behrajan	8	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:...	Henry Daly	14/1
6	1½	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...	10	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)	8/1
7	4	Chives	8	Richard Guest	Henrietta Knight	25/1
8	17	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...	13	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...	16/1
9	¾	You're Agoodun	11	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....	50/1
10	12	Colonel Braxton	8	Kieran Kelly Kieran Kelly Kieran Kelly was a top Irish jump jockey who died as a result of a racing accident.Kelly was born in County Kildare and achieved his first Cheltenham Festival success in March 2003 on Hardy Eustace in the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle.He was critically injured in a fall in on August 8, 2003...	Dessie Hughes (IRE)	33/1
11	10	Marlborough	11	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...	20/1
12	10	Modulor	11	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....	200/1
PU	Fence 21	Hussard Collonges	8	Russ Garritty	Peter Beaumont Peter Beaumont (racehorse trainer) Peter Beaumont is a British racehorse trainer. He retired in 2010 after a 24-year career- References :...	8/1
PU	Fence 20	First Gold First Gold (horse) First Gold was a National Hunt racehorse that was trained by François Doumen.The horse won the 2000 King George VI Chase race by a distance of 10 lengths when ridden by Thierry Doumen, beating Florida Pearl into second place. At the time of the win the horse was owned by the Marquesa de...	10	Thierry Doumen	François Doumen François Doumen François Doumen is a French racehorse trainer currently based at Boucé, Orne. From 1956 to 1970 he was an amateur jockey, and he then worked as an assistant trainer to his father Jean. He obtained his own training licence in 1977....  (FR)	33/1
Fell	Fence 3	Beef or Salmon Beef or Salmon Beef or Salmon was a multiple Grade 1 winning National Hunt racehorse. He was trained in Ireland by Michael Hourigan and owned by B J Craig. He was most famous for never winning a race outside of Ireland and for defeating three Cheltenham Gold Cup winners in Best Mate, Kicking King and War of...	7	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 :...	Michael Hourigan (IRE)	5/1

* 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. nk = neck; 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