2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup The 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Friday 18 March 2005. It was the 77th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Kicking King. The winner was ridden by Barry Geraghty and trained by Tom Taaffe. Kicking King was the first winner of the Gold Cup to be trained in Ireland since Imperial Call in 1996. The three-time winner Best Mate was withdrawn from the race a week earlier after bursting a blood vessel. A fourth day was added to the
David Nicholson (horse racing) in the 1964–65 season. His biggest win came in the Whitbread Gold Cup on Mill House in 1967. As a trainer he was one of the leading trainers in National Hunt racing during the 1980s and 1990s. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Charter Party in 1988, the King George VI Chase with Barton Bank in 1993 and the Queen Mother Champion Chase with Viking Flagship in 1994 and 1995. He retired in 1999. In 2008 an extra race was added to the Cheltenham Festival named the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle in honour of Nicholson. David Nicholson (horse racing)