The 2004 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 18, 2004. It was the 76th 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.

With his third successive Gold Cup victory Best Mate became the fourth horse to win the race three times or more, and he was the first triple-winner since Arkle

Arkle

Arkle was a famous Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by Archive out of Bright Cherry, his grandsire was the unbeaten flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was bred at Ballymacoll Stud, County Meath by Mrs. Mary Alison Baker of Malahow House, near Naul, County Dublin...

 in the mid 1960s.

Race details

• Sponsor: Totesport
  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: 10
• Winner's time: 6m 42.6s

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...	9	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	8/11 fav
2	½	Sir Rembrandt	8	Andrew Thornton Andrew Thornton Andrew Thornton is a National Hunt jockey. He was born on October 28, 1972 in Cleveland and schooled at Barnard Castle School in County Durham. He rides mainly for Caroline Bailey,Seamus Mullins,Henrietta Knight,Ben Pollock and Richard Rowe.as well as for many other trainers. He is not related to...	Robert Alner Robert Alner Robert Alner is a British racehorse trainer specializing in National Hunt racing. He is based at stables at Droop, near Sturminster Newton in Dorset, England. He trained the winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Cool Dawn in 1998....	33/1
3	1¼	Harbour Pilot	9	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)	20/1
4	1¾	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...	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 :...	Michael Hourigan (IRE)	10/1
5	10	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...	11	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)	12/1
6	dist	Keen Leader	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...	Jonjo O'Neill Jonjo O'Neill Jonjo O'Neill is an Irish National Hunt racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is a native of Castletownroche, County Cork in Ireland. Based at the Jackdaws Castle training establishment in England, O'Neill is the private trainer to J. P. McManus, one of the largest owners of steeplechasers and...	10/1
7	4	Therealbandit	7	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....	15/2
8	3	Alexander Banquet	11	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:...	Willie Mullins Willie Mullins Willie Mullins is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is based at Closutton, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, Ireland...  (IRE)	80/1
PU	Fence 19	Truckers Tavern	9	Tony Dobbin Tony Dobbin Tony Dobbin is a retired Northern Irish National Hunt jockey who rode mainly in Great Britain. He rode the winner of the Grand National on Lord Gyllene in 1997 and won over 1,200 races during his career in the saddle. He was the regular stable jockey for Nicky Richards...	Ferdy Murphy	22/1
PU	Fence 15	Irish Hussar	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...	16/1

* 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