The last three winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup

Believe it or not, the Cheltenham Festival is just under a week away! The year is rolling around fast as horse racing fans gear up for four days of competitive racing at Prestbury Park for one of the most important weeks on the calendar. Having taken place behind closed doors last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, spectators will be allowed to return to the racetrack for the first time since 2020, as the famous ‘Cheltenham Roar’ reignites once again.

There are plenty of close encounters in this year’s Festival, leaving many scratching their heads when checking the Cheltenham odds, perhaps none more so than in the Gold Cup. Regarded as the most prestigious race of the week, the likes of Galvin, A Plus Tard and Minella Indo will all be in attendance, alongside some of the best trainers, who will want to get some final scoring points for the Top Trainer award, which was dominated by Henry de Bromhead and Willie Mullins last year, with the latter winning on the basis of more placings after both handlers finished on six wins.

The Gold Cup has always been competitive and snatching a win in the Festival’s top competition could well mean writing your name in the history books. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the three most recent winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Minella Indo – 2021

As we said earlier, De Bromhead enjoyed a Festival to remember last year, in which he took six winners back with him to County Waterford. The Irishman’s greatest success though arguably came in the Gold Cup, where young jockey Jack Kennedy, aboard Minella Indo, ran fantastically to secure a brilliant win. The nine-year-old dazzled on what threatened to be a tough race, seeing off his stablemate A Plus Tard as well as Paul Nicholls-trained Frodon, who started well but admittedly faded away. While the loss would have frustrated Rachael Blackmore, who still went on to win the Top Jockey award, Minella Indo’s victory ensured a win would still be part of De Bromhead’s legacy.

Al Boum Photo – 2020 and 2019 

Mullins has developed a reputation over the years as one of the best trainers around, and with the most winners in Cheltenham history, it’s no surprise he’s snagged a few Gold Cups along the way. Mullins-trained Al Boum Photo won consecutive Gold Cups in 2019 and 2020 and was the most recent winner to taste success in front of a packed out Prestbury Park. The now ten-year-old was dominant in 2020 whilst the year before was a much closer encounter, with 22/1 outsider Anibale Fly coming close with a valiant effort. Nonetheless, Mullins made history with Al Boum Photo being the first horse since Best Mate in 2004 to win back-to-back Gold Cups.

Native River – 2018 

While it’s certainly been difficult for Colin Tizzard over the last few years, he still managed a massive coup in a Grade One race back in 2018 when Native River won the Gold Cup, living up to his status as one of the favourites. Despite Might Bite coming close, Native River got the job done, to the elation of Tizzard who emotionally praised both the horse and jockey Richard Johnson for their efforts.

“It’s unreal. It’s the fourth day and the Irish have been winning everything” he said. “I was thinking our form is not as good as we imagined. Then Richard Johnson gives that brave horse that sort of ride and everything changes.

“When Might Bite came alongside, and might even have headed him, I thought oh, no, but then Richard was brilliant. You wouldn’t tell him what to do, because he knew what he was going to do a week ago.”

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