Prestigious race regarded as ultimate test of steeplechasing’s champions since Red Splash’s dramatic victory a century ago
The first three days of this year’s Cheltenham Festival have been a slightly more difficult sell than normal, but it is certain to be a sell‑out when National Hunt fans gather to mark a significant birthday at the foot of Cleeve Hill on Friday.
The Gold Cup was not the most important race at Cheltenham when it was first staged in 1924, an era when the National Hunt Chase, which survives to this day on the Festival’s opening afternoon, was second only to the Grand National at Aintree in terms of its prestige. But a century on from Red Splash’s victory in the first Gold Cup – a last-gasp win by a head and a neck that set a suitably high standard for the decades ahead – the race is the ultimate, undisputed test of steeplechasing’s champions.
Written by Greg Wood at Cheltenham
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/14/galopin-des-champs-100th-gold-cup-cheltenham-festival-horse-racing under the title “Galopin Des Champs would provide fitting centenary Gold Cup winner”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
