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
Cheltenham Gold Cup been sponsored by a non-bookmaker since the Tote took over from Piper Champagne in 1980. The Cheltenham Gold Cup has had the following sponsors: In July 2018 Cheltenham Racecourse announced Magners Irish Cider as the new Cheltenham Gold Cup sponsor until 2022. The new partnership will also see Magners become the "presenting partner" across all four days of The Festival. ---- Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of 3 miles 2½ furlongs (5,331 m), and during its running