Festival Fever | Timeform Cheltenham Greats: Best Mate

BEST MATE

(David Ord)

I’ve been lucky enough to get up close to some wonderful racehorses.

Kauto Star, Denman and Big Buck’s looking over their doors in Millionaires Row at Ditcheat is a memory that will never fade, neither will seeing Frankel cantering up Warren Hill as the late, great Sir Henry Cecil talked through his ground-devouring stride.

Inglis Drever in County Durham, Tiger Roll in Ireland, Baracouda in the woods at Chantilly. I’ve been blessed.

But none made the immediate impact Best Mate did when he was brought out of his box to face the assembled cameras on a pre-Cheltenham stable visit to Wantage in 2004.

Wow. Here was a horse who was the perfect physical specimen for a chaser. Beautiful to look at and with an engine to match.

After all a month later he was to become the first since Arkle to win the Gold Cup three times. A wait of 38 years was over and Simon Holt produced a commentary befitting the occasion.

Terry Biddlecomebe wept, he and Henrietta Knight, such central figures in the Best Mate story, hugged as they prepared to welcome back their hero.

Jim and Valerie Lewis, draped in their scarves and beaming from ear to ear in the winners’ enclosure awaited his arrival. Even “that” song didn’t grate in the moment.

It was a huge.

Yes, it’s true he wasn’t competing in a vintage era for staying chasers, to win his three blue ribands he beat Commanche Court, Truckers Tavern and Sir Rembrant. But that’s not exactly his fault.

The conservative way in which he was campaigned was a source of frustration. Those closest to the horse were adamant he needed to be trained that way – and to be fair while his road to Cheltenham for the last two Gold Cups only included two stops, the second one was a King George and the artist formerly known as the Ericson Chase at Leopardstown. They weren’t looking for penalty kicks.

He was never asked to concede weight all round in a Hennessy, to produce the sort of ratings-busting performance that earns big numbers, so never really features towards the top of the table when we attempt to rank previous generations.

But for three successive seasons he won a Gold Cup.

The best looking chaser I ever saw was also one of the very best too. Go to Cheltenham and there’s a bar and enclosure named after him. Walk through the Hall of Fame and a picture of Best Mate and Jim Culloty hang there alongside the greatest of them all.

He deserved no less.

Timeform

The Gold Cup years

2001/02 Season

Best Mate took the tried and tested path once more with just four outings in total as he moved into open company with the King George VI Chase top of the agenda in the first half of the season. He made a winning reappearance against three rivals (all trained by Paul Nicholls) in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter in November, scoring with any amount in hand following an exemplary round of jumping. He had just a trio of rivals to contend with once again later that month in the First National Bank Gold Cup at Ascot where he went down by half a length as he attempted to give Wahiba Sands 20 lb.

He may well have lost his perfect record over fences but going so close in a handicap off a BHA mark of 169 provided further evidence he was on the way to the very top. Changes were in the offing for Kempton on Boxing Day with Tony McCoy taking over from an injured Jim Culloty in the saddle. Best Mate and Florida Pearl had the finish to the King George between them with the latter holding on by three-quarters of a length. McCoy was convinced he could have won given the chance again but was instructed to ride a waiting race over three miles for the first time and could not quite reel in the winner.

Best Mate had proved he stayed three miles but his stamina would be tested again when he lined up against 17 rivals over three and a quarter miles in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Culloty was back in the saddle and his mount showed himself to be the best chaser around by taking the biggest prize in the sport on just his seventh start over fences.

He was produced from the rear full of running at the top of the hill under a fine tactical ride, leading after two out and driven to the line to hold the rallying Commanche Court by one and three quarter lengths with See More Business back in third. In a move that would be repeated over the next two seasons, connections decided Best Mate would not be present at any of the other big spring festivals and was immediately put away.

Major races won:

• Haldon Gold Cup, Exeter
• Cheltenham Gold Cup, Cheltenham

2002/03 Season

The racing public saw Best Mate just three times during this campaign but he hit the target on each occasion and rounded off his campaign with a career-best effort to land a second Cheltenham Gold Cup on a glorious spring day in March. His starting point this time was the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon towards the end of November over two and half miles. He took the eye in the preliminaries and was well in control at the finish to beat French raider Douze Douze by eight lengths.

The King George at Kempton was the obvious next target - so it seemed - but trainer Henrietta Knight had fired a hefty broadside at the track after their meeting in late October. She had slammed the state of the ground, saying “there is no grass” and her stable star would not be running at the meeting over Christmas unless there was a dramatic improvement.

Soft ground eventually prevailed and Best Mate turned up to go one better than 12 months previously with Tony McCoy once more given the leg up to replace the suspended Jim Culloty. Under a more forceful ride, Best Mate produced the better jump at the last and held on gamely, in what were quite gruelling conditions, from Marlborough to score by one and half lengths. In form terms, he had run to the same level in the race as the previous renewal.

Following a break to recharge the batteries, he became the first horse to record successive victories in the Gold Cup in 32 years - it was done in imperious fashion, too, jumping flawlessly before quickening clear from the last to slam Truckers Tavern by ten lengths after cruising into the lead on the bridle three out. The inevitable comparisons to Arkle gushed out but at the very least Best Mate had proved himself a class apart from the rest of the current staying division.

Major races won:

• Peterborough Chase, Huntingdon
• King George VI Chase, Kempton
• Cheltenham Gold Cup, Cheltenham

2003/04 Season

The first of three outings resulted in an odds-on reverse in the Peterborough Chase, just a third defeat in 13 starts over fences. Best Mate looked as if the run might do him good beforehand and, having not jumped with his usual elan, he found Jair Du Cochet too strong by eight lengths, unable to go with the winner as he quickened entering the straight.

It seemed all systems go for another crack at the King George afterwards but connections were seriously considering a fresh option in the Ericsson Chase in Ireland at Christmas. The crowd at Leopardstown swelled to 20,000 to watch Best Mate (8/11) take on seven rivals with Beef or Salmon, sent off at 2/1, considered his only really serious challenger. Best Mate had clearly benefited from the outing at Huntingdon and looked in magnificent shape as he delivered an outstanding display, cruising through the race and leaving his opponents in his wake after moving to the front at the second-last. It was a performance to silence any murmurings following his defeat on reappearance, and it completed a splendid festive period for Knight and owner Jim Lewis after they had landed the King George with Edredon Bleu.

Best Mate was then given his customary break between Christmas and a bid for a third victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Returning the 8/11 favourite, he didn’t have to be at his best to beat nine rivals and join Golden Miller, Cottage Rake and Arkle as three-time winners. He was all out in the end to hold on from Sir Rembrandt and Harbour Pilot having been boxed in briefly around the home turn, running to a rating some 16 lb lower than the previous year. It didn’t stop the bookmakers making him 5/2 to complete a four-timer in the event and just 12/1 to add number five in 2006.

Perhaps buoyed by their exploits across the Irish Sea, Lewis floated the idea of going to the Punchestown Festival the following month to complete his season, but Best Mate headed off for his summer holidays.

Major races won:

• Ericsson Chase, Leopardstown
• Cheltenham Gold Cup, Cheltenham