Boylesports.com Gold Cup

Grade 3 race
Boylesports.com Gold Cup

Location	Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham, England
Inaugurated	1963
Race type	Chase
Sponsor	Boylesports
Website	Cheltenham
Race information
Distance	2m 5f (4,225 metres)
Track	Turf, left-handed
Qualification	Four-years-old and up
Weight	Handicap
Purse	£150,000 (2009) 1st: £85,515

The Boylesports.com Gold Cup is a Grade 3 National Hunt chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 5 furlongs (4,225 metres), and during its running there are seventeen fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in December.

The event was first run in 1963. It was originally sponsored by Massey Ferguson and known as the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup. The race continued with this title until 1980, but since then it has had various sponsors and consequently several title changes. The 2005 running was named the Robin Cook Memorial Gold Cup. This was in memory of Robin Cook (1946–2005), a former Foreign Secretary who was a keen racing enthusiast. The present sponsors, Boylesports, have supported the race since 2006.

The Boylesports.com Gold Cup is often contested by horses which ran previously in the Paddy Power Gold Cup (also formerly known by other titles). Three have won both races in the same season – Pegwell Bay, Senor El Betrutti and Exotic Dancer.

Records

Most successful horse(2 wins) :

• Poquelin - (2009),(2010)

Leading jockey (2 wins):

• Ron Barry – Titus Oates (1969), Easby Abbey (1975)
• Brendan Powell – Pegwell Bay (1988), Dublin Flyer (1994)
• Tony Dobbin – Addington Boy (1996), Exotic Dancer (2006)
• Richard Johnson – Legal Right (1999), Monkerhostin (2004)
• Mick Fitzgerald – Fondmort (2002), Iris Royal (2003)

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Leading trainer (3 wins):

• Gordon W. Richards – Titus Oates (1969), Clever Folly (1989), Addington Boy (1996)
• Fred Winter – Pendil (1973), Observe (1982), Fifty Dollars More (1983)

Winners

• Weights given in stones and pounds.

Year	Winner	Age	Weight	Jockey	Trainer
1963	Limeking	6	10-12	Toss Taaffe	Danny Morgan
1964	Flying Wild	8	10-06	Tommy Carberry	Dan Moore
1965	Flyingbolt	6	12-06	Pat Taaffe	Tom Dreaper
1966	The Laird	5	10-09	Jeff King	Bob Turnell
1967	no race 1967 [1]
1968	Tassilo	10	10-01	Aly Branford	Fulke Walwyn
1969	Titus Oates	7	11-13	Ron Barry	Gordon W. Richards
1970	Simian	8	11-08	David Moore	Auriol Sinclair
1971	Leap Frog	7	12-01	Val O'Brien	Tom Dreaper
1972	Arctic Bow	7	10-12	Andrew Turnell	Bob Turnell
1973	Pendil	8	12-07	Richard Pitman	Fred Winter
1974	Garnishee	10	10-06	David Mould	Harry Thomson Jones
1975	Easby Abbey	8	11-10	Ron Barry	Peter Easterby
1976	no race 1976 [2]
1977	Even Melody	8	11-02	Colin Hawkins	Neville Crump
1978	The Snipe	8	10-00	Anthony Webber	John Webber
1979	Father Delaney	7	10-10	Alan Brown	Peter Easterby
1980	Bueche Giorod	9	10-00	Bryan Smart	Jenny Pitman
1981	no race 1981 [3]
1982	Observe	6	10-11	John Francome	Fred Winter
1983	Fifty Dollars More	8	11-10	Richard Linley	Fred Winter
1984	Beau Ranger	6	09-10	John Hurst	John Thorne
1985	Combs Ditch	9	11-09	Colin Brown	David Elsworth
1986	Oregon Trail	6	10-07	Ronnie Beggan	Simon Christian
1987	Bishops Yarn	8	10-07	Richard Guest	Toby Balding
1988	Pegwell Bay	7	10-13	Brendan Powell	Tim Forster
1989	Clever Folly	9	10-04	Neale Doughty	Gordon W. Richards
1990	no race 1990 [3]
1991	Kings Fountain	8	11-10	Anthony Tory	Kim Bailey
1992	Another Coral	9	11-04	Richard Dunwoody	David Nicholson
1993	Fragrant Dawn	9	10-02	Declan Murphy	Martin Pipe
1994	Dublin Flyer	8	10-02	Brendan Powell	Tim Forster
1995	no race 1995 [4]
1996	Addington Boy	8	11-10	Tony Dobbin	Gordon W. Richards
1997	Senor El Betrutti	8	11-03	Graham Bradley	Susan Nock
1998	Northern Starlight	7	10-01	Tony McCoy	Martin Pipe
1999	Legal Right	6	10-13	Richard Johnson	Jonjo O'Neill
2000	Go Roger Go	8	11-00	Norman Williamson	Edward O'Grady
2001	no race 2001 [4]
2002	Fondmort	6	10-05	Mick Fitzgerald	Nicky Henderson
2003	Iris Royal [5]	7	10-13	Mick Fitzgerald	Nicky Henderson
2004	Monkerhostin	7	10-02	Richard Johnson	Philip Hobbs
2005	Sir Oj	8	10-00	Paul Carberry	Noel Meade
2006	Exotic Dancer	6	11-04	Tony Dobbin	Jonjo O'Neill
2007	Tamarinbleu	7	11-08	Denis O'Regan	David Pipe
2008	no race 2008 [6]
2009	Poquelin	6	11-08	Ruby Walsh	Paul Nicholls
2010	Poquelin	7	11-07	Ian Popham	Paul Nicholls

¹ The 1967 running was abandoned due to a foot-and-mouth disease epidemic.
² The race was cancelled in 1976 because of frost.
³ It was abandoned in both 1981 and 1990 because of snow.
⁴ The 1995 and 2001 races were cancelled because of frost.
⁵ The 2003 edition was run on Cheltenham's Old Course over 2 miles and 4½ furlongs.
⁶ It was abandoned in 2008 due to waterlogging.

References

• Racing Post:
  • 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
  • 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010

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• pedigreequery.com – Boylesports.com Gold Cup Chase – Cheltenham.
• sportingchronicle.com – Boylesports.com Gold Cup.
• Ladbrokes Pocket Companion 1990/91. Aesculus Press. 1990. p. 44. ISBN 1-871093-21-X. 

See also

• Horseracing in Great Britain
• List of British National Hunt races
• Recurring events established in 1963 – this race is included under its original title, Massey Ferguson Gold Cup.