2002 Cheltenham Gold Cup

The 2002 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Thursday 14 March 2002. It was the 74th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by Best Mate. The winner was ridden by Jim Culloty and trained by Henrietta Knight. The pre-race favourite Looks Like Trouble finished thirteenth.

It was the first running of the Gold Cup for two years, as it had been cancelled in 2001 because of a foot-and-mouth crisis.

Race details

• Sponsor: Tote
• Winner's prize money: £174,000.00
• Going: Good
• Number of runners: 18
• Winner's time: 6m 50.1s

Full result

	*	Horse	Age	Jockey	Trainer †	SP
1		Best Mate	7	Jim Culloty	Henrietta Knight	7/1
2	1¾	Commanche Court	9	Ruby Walsh	Ted Walsh (IRE)	25/1
3	8	See More Business	12	Joe Tizzard	Paul Nicholls	40/1
4	6	Marlborough	10	Dean Gallagher	Nicky Henderson	12/1
5	5	What's Up Boys	8	Paul Flynn	Philip Hobbs	33/1
6	½	Alexander Banquet	9	Barry Geraghty	Willie Mullins (IRE)	12/1
7	¾	Moscow Express	10	Shay Barry	Frances Crowley (IRE)	66/1
8	12	Cyfor Malta	9	Rodi Greene	Martin Pipe	25/1
9	3	Foxchapel King	9	David Casey	Mouse Morris (IRE)	12/1
10	7	Lord Noelie	9	Richard Guest	Henrietta Knight	16/1
11	¾	Florida Pearl	10	Conor O'Dwyer	Willie Mullins (IRE)	10/1
12	6	Bacchanal	8	Mick Fitzgerald	Nicky Henderson	6/1
13	dist	Looks Like Trouble	10	Richard Johnson	Noel Chance	9/2 fav
Fell	Fence 22	Sackville	9	John Cullen	Frances Crowley (IRE)	33/1
PU	Fence 21	Go Ballistic	13	Carl Llewellyn	Henrietta Knight	66/1
PU	Fence 20	Behrajan	7	Norman Williamson	Henry Daly	11/1
PU	Fence 19	Shotgun Willy	8	Timmy Murphy	Paul Nicholls	25/1
PU	Fence 12	Shooting Light	9	Tony McCoy	Martin Pipe	10/1

* The distances between the horses are shown in lengths or shorter. PU = pulled-up.
† Trainers are based in Great Britain unless indicated.

Winner's details

Further details of the winner, Best Mate:

• Foaled: 28 January 1995 in Ireland
• Sire: Un Desperado; Dam: Katday (Miller's Mate)
• Owner: Jim Lewis
• Breeder: Jacques Van't Hart

References

• 2002
• sportinglife.com
• telegraph.co.uk – "Best Mate surges to Gold Cup glory" – March 14, 2002.

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