Cheltenham Gold Cup chasers as Arkle, Best Mate, Golden Miller, Kauto Star and Mill House. The Gold Cup is the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain, and in 2014 it offered a total prize fund of £550,000. The first horse race known as the Cheltenham Gold Cup took place in July 1819. It was a flat race, and it was contested over 3 miles on Cleeve Hill, which overlooks the present venue. The inaugural winner, Spectre, won a prize of 100 guineas for his owner Mr Bodenham. The Cheltenham Gold Cup was first run as a jumps race on 12 March 1924. The
The Thinker (horse) West Tip. In the 1988/9 season, The Thinker won a minor race at Kelso Racecourse and then took the listed Tommy Whittle Chase at Haydock Park, taking the lead at the second last and winning easily by twelve lengths from Kissane. He then finished third under top weight of 164 pounds in the Welsh National and fell at the tenth fence in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. On 8 April, The Thinker again carried 164 pounds when top weight for the 1989 Grand National. Ridden by Simon Sherwood, he lost his position on the second circuit but stayed on strongly in