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2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup
The 2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Thursday, 18 March 2004. It was the 76th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Best Mate. 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 in the mid-1960s.
Race details
- Sponsor: Totesport
- 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 | |
| 1 | Best Mate | 9 | Jim Culloty | Henrietta Knight | 8/11 fav | |
| 2 | ½ | Sir Rembrandt | 8 | Andrew Thornton | Robert Alner | 33/1 |
| 3 | 1¼ | Harbour Pilot | 9 | Paul Carberry | Noel Meade (IRE) | 20/1 |
| 4 | 1¾ | Beef or Salmon | 8 | Timmy Murphy | Michael Hourigan (IRE) | 10/1 |
| 5 | 10 | First Gold | 11 | Thierry Doumen | François Doumen (FR) | 12/1 |
| 6 | dist | Keen Leader | 8 | Barry Geraghty | Jonjo O'Neill | 10/1 |
| 7 | 4 | Therealbandit | 7 | Tony McCoy | Martin Pipe | 15/2 |
| 8 | 3 | Alexander Banquet | 11 | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins (IRE) | 80/1 |
| PU | Fence 19 | Truckers Tavern | 9 | Tony Dobbin | Ferdy Murphy | 22/1 |
| PU | Fence 15 | Irish Hussar | 8 | Mick Fitzgerald | Nicky Henderson | 16/1 |
* The distances between the horses are shown in lengths or shorter. PU = pulled-up.
† Trainers are based in Great Britain unless indicated.
Winner's details
Further details of the winner, Best Mate:
- Foaled: 28 January 1995, in Ireland
- Sire: Un Desperado; Dam: Katday (Miller's Mate)
- Owner: Jim Lewis
- Breeder: Jacques Van't Hart
- 2004
- sportinglife.com
- telegraph.co.uk – ""Best Mate leaps into history"" – March 19, 2004.
Jack Young