Cheltenham Gold Cup races from 1932 to 1936 were won by Golden Miller, who also won the Grand National in 1934. During World War II the Gold Cup was cancelled twice, in 1943 and 1944. The first multiple winner of the post-war years was Cottage Rake, who won the three runnings from 1948 to 1950. Cottage Rake was trained in Ireland by Vincent O'Brien, and his successes helped to popularise the Gold Cup, and the Festival itself, with the Irish public. The Gold Cup was switched to the "New Course" in 1959, and this is now the regular track used for the event.
Koko (horse) Koko (horse) Koko (foaled 1918) was an Irish racehorse who won the 1926 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He finished third in the race in 1928 when odds-on favourite and fell in 1929. He also ran twice without success in the Grand National. Koko was a bay gelding bred in Ireland. He was sired by Santoi a top-class flat stayer who won the Ascot Gold Cup in 1901 before becoming a leading National Hunt sire. Koko's dan Persister was a daughter of The Derby winner Persimmon and a half-sister to Fiona, an influential broodmare whose descendants included Native Dancer. Koko was owned