David Ord and Ben Linfoot reflect on the greatness of three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Best Mate

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David Ord - hat-trick hero

“Wow”.

That was my first reaction as Best Mate emerged from the sanctuary of his box to face the massed media ahead of the defence of his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown in February 2003.

He looked the perfect physical specimen, his coat glistened in the late winter sun and his intelligent head took everything in. He posed on demand, flicked his ears up as the shutters on the cameras opened and closed. Here was a horse who knew he was box office.

And he was – although like Daniel Day Lewis, he and his team chose their roles carefully.

At the time Henrietta Knight, Terry Biddlecombe and Jim Lewis attracted criticism, from myself included, for his seemingly tame campaigns. In hindsight it was genius.

They plotted routes that took him through three back-to-back Gold Cup wins. Until last week no horse had even managed two in a row since.

He was helped by the fact he wasn’t competing in a vintage era of staying chasers but on the days that mattered he was there, in different ground, in against different rivals, to deliver.

There have been better Gold Cup winners, more durable Gold Cup winners, but that doesn’t matter. Best Mate was the best of his generation and rattled off a trio of wins in the race that matters most.

The third was the most hard fought, Jim Culloty’s mount short of room turning in as his rivals seized the opportunity to close the door on his bid to follow in the hoofprints of Arkle.

It didn’t work – once in the clear he swept to the front and a typically fluent leap over the last seemed to have sealed the deal.

It hadn’t. No sooner had Simon Holt started to think about roaring "three Gold Cups!" then Sir Rembrandt, the dourest of stayers, found a gear few can muster up the Cheltenham hill after three-and-a-quarter miles.

It carried him to within half-a-length of Best Mate at the line, and would have taken him past the favourite in three more strides.

But the day, the era, belonged to Best Mate.

The greatest of all time? No. But the only three-time Gold Cup winner since Arkle and a horse to celebrate both then and now.

Ben Linfoot - Great mate

We all have horses that were significant in cultivating our love for the great game and Best Mate was one of mine.

A lot of the jumps horses from that turn-of-the-century era were pivotal in making me want to come back for more – Istabraq, Baracouda, Rooster Booster – but Best Mate was different as he seemed to transcend the sport, in my eyes at least.

It surprises me these days that he’s not remembered as a people’s horse. Perhaps it’s through rose-tinted glasses I remember a time where he was on the front pages and non-racing folk spoke of this horse who was going for and eventually won three Gold Cups.

I was in my final year of university in a busy pub in the centre of Huddersfield when he won his first Gold Cup and he was revered at the time as the new kid on the block, a Rolls Royce of a seven-year-old who could be the one to emulate the achievements of Arkle.

I guess nobody really believed it at the time, though. Three Gold Cups. Only L’Escargot had won two since Arkle in the 1960s and it had proven incredibly hard to even get back to Cheltenham for the next one, never mind win it.

But Henrietta Knight found a way.

People crab the form of his Gold Cup successes, but he was flawless the first time he won it and he even improved on that second time around when winning by 10 lengths as easy as he liked. What more could he do?

It’s also worth remembering that, for all that his light campaigns were used as a stick to beat him with, he did win the King George and the Gold Cup in the same season in 2002-2003. The first horse to do so since Desert Orchid.

He was lightly-raced, it was the secret of his success, but he always took in a Grade One at Christmas.

Before he went for his third Gold Cup win he went over to Ireland and beat Le Coudray and Beef Or Salmon in their own back yard in the Grade One at Leopardstown (Ericsson Chase at the time) and he did so with a swagger.

The day he made it three at Cheltenham he did have to fight. He wasn’t at his best. But that too is the sign of a champion and he’ll always be one of the greats in my eyes.

Send us your thoughts on the triple Gold Cup winner!

Send your comments into racingfeedback@sportinglife.com and if you’ve any ideas for topics you want covering over the coming days and weeks please let us know.

Patrick Monaghan, Enniskillen .Co. Fermanagh: I am old enough to remember the mighty Arkle, who would undoubtedly would have won another one or two Gold Cups but for that injury sustained in the King George all them years ago. Just imagine Best Mate was rated at least two stone inferior to ‘ Himself’, quite unbelievable but true. That’s not to take anything away from Best Mate at all, he could only beat what horses were there at the time. Maybe he was even a little better than we realised but his three wins fall way below what Arkle achieved.

David Parker: What a great race horse , who was brilliantly trained and his campaigns were planned to a tee. When he got to Cheltenham he was 110 per cent. Race early season one at Christmas time and then on to Cheltenham, and if you look at the courses it is very clever in my way of thinking. Exeter quite undulating, Kempton quite flat and a speed track one year he went to Leapordstown which I believe is a undulating track but not as severe as others and he beat the best Ireland had to offer. The strategy of where he ran was part to do with his success and I think this years gold cup has proved it. Best Mate is one of the all time greats but he was trained with one goal in mind. Just brilliant strategy. Compare Desert Orchid's campaigns no comparison. This is a great idea at such difficult times. Well done.

Steve G: I had a different perspective on Best Mate's third Gold Cup. I had just started betting online and had a free £20 bet with Ladbrokes. I put £10 EW on Sir Rembrandt at 40-1.. It started to rain during the afternoon so I was hopeful. I couldn't really see Sir Rembrandt very well on the outside on the TV so it wasn't until afterwards I realised how close he came. Now I wonder whether I wish he'd spoiled the party or not, after all one of my first bets was 10 pence EW on Red Rum, now I'd happily give the money back if we could change the result and Crisp could hold on!

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