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
2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup 10 lengths behind in third place. All three placed horses were trained in Ireland. 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup The 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup (known as the Timico Gold Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 88th annual running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup horse race and was held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday 18 March 2016. The race was won by the 9 to 4 favourite, Don Cossack, owned by Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud, trained by Gordon Elliott in Ireland, and ridden by Bryan Cooper. The race gave Elliott and Cooper a first victory in the Cheltenham Gold