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As we build-up to Cheltenham Pageant week, we have a look again at fan favorite, Greatest Mate, who gained three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups.
Greatest Mate established a stage of pre-eminence in racing that is still untouchable. He delivered each time his hooves touched a racecourse. His kind is one thing to be marvelled at – from 22 begins beneath Guidelines, he completed within the high two in each race bar one, and by no means fell.
It was his longevity as a Nationwide Hunt famous person that meant folks yearned to see him within the flesh, flocking to Cheltenham to observe him. He grew to become the primary horse since Arkle to win three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups – in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Recognized to be a weaver in his steady, Greatest Mate was turned out every day with Edredon Bleu, who additionally raced within the late Jim Lewis’s blue and maroon striped silks – impressed by the proprietor’s favorite soccer membership, Aston Villa.
“I’m a giant believer in turning horses out come rain or shine,” says his coach Henrietta Knight. “Greatest Mate was at all times in cost and bossed Edredon Bleu round. If he’d been a toddler at college, he would have been the cheeky, smug youngster at school.”
There was one factor Greatest Mate didn’t like, nonetheless, and that was gentle floor.
“I’m unsure he would have gained three consecutive Gold Cups if the bottom had been on the gentle aspect,” muses Knight. “In that floor, he couldn’t exhibit his full means and he didn’t like having to drag his ft out of mud.”
Fortunately for Greatest Mate and all involved, the bottom was formally “good” on all three of his Gold Cup glory days. Maybe some issues are simply meant to be.
“Greatest Mate was unbeatable, except in gentle floor, and even then he completed second,” provides his common jockey Jim Culloty. “He was essentially the most superbly balanced horse to trip. When the bottom suited him, he might stand off a fence from outdoors of the wings, however within the incorrect floor you may simply inform he hated it.
“I’d get him right into a rhythm and let him lob away throughout a race, he had such a excessive cruising velocity. He’d come alive on the races and I at all times knew I used to be driving the very best horse.”
Knight admits the primary Gold Cup victory in 2002 was a shock, however that “[her late husband] Terry [Biddlecombe] at all times had confidence in him”. By the point the Nationwide Hunt specialist lined up for his third consecutive Gold Cup, he had a legion of followers gunning for him.
“Again then, emails and mobiles weren’t such a factor, so we used to get piles of letters and playing cards for him despatched by followers,” remembers Knight. “We’d have folks turning up on the yard eager to see him in his steady, and we held an open day particularly for him, so many followers packed in to see him – he was so standard.”
Proprietor Jim Lewis, Greatest Mate and coach Henrietta Knight
Together with his rise in recognition got here a media storm and elevated stress for all his connections. His ultimate Gold Cup was undoubtedly his most dramatic, and plenty of will bear in mind the emotional embrace between Knight and Biddlecombe within the aftermath.
In the course of the race, Greatest Mate and Culloty received boxed in by rivals on the within rail. A wave of panic trembled amongst spectators and might be heard within the TV commentator’s voice. Nevertheless, an outstanding soar on the second final earned him the lead and he battled up the well-known Cheltenham hill in entrance.
“Successful on a horse of Greatest Mate’s calibre, you simply really feel relieved crossing the road that you simply haven’t gone and messed it up,” says Culloty.
In Horse & Hound’s 2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup report, racing reporter Tim Richards summed it up by writing: “Along with his fast, economical leaping and easy gallop, Greatest Mate confirmed one other aspect – that of the imply avenue fighter to get himself out of a nook after being boxed in by Paul Carberry on Harbour Pilot from 4 fences out.
“His hundreds of followers had their hearts of their mouths when there seemed to be nowhere to go along with first Harbour Pilot after which Sir Rembrandt retaining him in test towards the rails. However Greatest Mate isn’t any softy and he dug deep for Jim Culloty after being switched between horses. As soon as the second final was in vary, he winged it.”
And it wasn’t simply Cheltenham the place Greatest Mate raced into the historical past books – he additionally claimed the stakes within the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day in 2002, beneath champion jockey AP McCoy.
Greatest Mate’s early years
Greatest Mate’s story started throughout the Irish Sea, when his breeder Jacques van’t Hart bought Flat mare Katday for 1,250 Irish guineas. It was the beginning of a highway to three-time Gold Cup glory for the breeder and the creation of a Nationwide Hunt icon.
Katday was put to stallion Un Desperado and on 28 January 1995, a bay colt was born close to Trim in Co Meath. He was offered as a foal on the Tattersalls (Eire) November Sale at Fairyhouse in 1996. The famend late bloodstock agent and horse supplier Tom Costello snapped up the foal for two,500gns.
It was considered one of Costello’s then younger sons who performed an element in selecting the very apt title “Greatest Mate”. Having been nurtured on the Costello yard, Greatest Mate made his debut in a point-to-point at Lismore in February 1999 and it was right here that Knight and Biddlecombe first noticed “Matey” throughout a go to to Eire.
“We appreciated Greatest Mate within the paddock beforehand and Terry, specifically, had actually taken to him,” remembers Knight. “When Greatest Mate pulled up in that race, Terry mentioned, ‘We must always purchase that horse.’ Nevertheless, Tom wouldn’t promote till he’d gained, so we waited.”
The couple returned to observe Greatest Mate win a two-runner race. This time their supply was accepted and so they bought him for proprietor Jim Lewis.
“Greatest Mate was at all times a top-class, pure jumper,” says Knight. “I by no means apprehensive in a race that he would fall – he simply by no means received it incorrect – and he was at all times easy to coach.”
Culloty partnered Greatest Mate in all however 4 of his races.
“I first sat on Greatest Mate at Hen’s yard,” remembers Culloty. “He was a goofy four-year-old with massive ears, however had a stunning method of going from the beginning – he was a pleasant, pliable horse.”
Greatest Mate made his debut beneath Guidelines on the very place that will change into synonymous together with his title – a bumper at Cheltenham in 1999, which he duly gained.
“Jim had an amazing relationship with Matey,” provides Knight. “They simply appeared to belief one another and Jim at all times sat quiet on him throughout a race.”
With each run, Greatest Mate stored on bettering. He discovered his method beneath the pores and skin of racing followers and by no means let the punters down, ending second if he didn’t win.
“You simply couldn’t fault him on conformation,” explains Knight. “He was every little thing I search for in a horse and set the precedent for me by way of what I seek for. Everybody at all times mentioned he was stereotypical of my kind of horse. He walked properly and he was a showman – he might have excelled in any self-discipline from eventing to dressage to displaying.”
Terry Biddlecombe at dwelling with Henrietta Knight and Greatest Mate
Greatest Mate’s untimely loss of life
In his impeccable kind beneath Guidelines stretching from 1999 till 2005, the one “PU” which glares off the web page is his final race on 1 November 2005 at Exeter – the day we mentioned goodbye to “Matey”. Having been pulled up by jockey Paul Carberry, he collapsed and died of a suspected coronary heart assault, aged 10.
In her guide entitled Not Sufficient Time: My Life With Terry Biddlecombe, Knight says of the second she misplaced her steady star: “The tip was fast. Greatest Mate would have felt no ache. It was as if he was in a coma. He took his final breath and lay immobile. There was no wrestle. His loss of life was extraordinarily peaceable.”
Jim Lewis had hoped Greatest Mate might be buried at Exeter; nonetheless, sure rules prevented this, so his ashes had been buried beside the profitable submit at Cheltenham a month after he died.
“Greatest Mate grew to become the folks’s champion,” mentioned Lewis on the time. “They beloved him and he beloved them – he can be at relaxation on the scene of his biggest triumphs.”
Greatest Mate undoubtedly modified the lives of these closest to him.
“He put my title on the map, he did a lot for my coaching profession and my life thereafter,” displays Knight. “I used to be so very fortunate to have two champions in my life – Terry and Greatest Mate.
“I’ve at all times lived for horses, however typically you want one thing that will help you alongside and for me that was Greatest Mate. Horses like him don’t come by fairly often.”
Culloty describes his success on him as “career-defining”.
“If folks bear in mind me as a jockey, it’s due to Greatest Mate,” he says. “He deserved an extended, joyful retirement and it’s devastating that by no means occurred. It’s virtually ironic that such a wholesome horse with such a giant coronary heart died of a coronary heart assault.”
Greatest Mate is immortalised in two bronze statues, one within the village the place he was skilled and one other at Cheltenham Racecourse. He could also be gone, however the legacy of Greatest Mate lives on within the coronary heart of each racing fan who was fortunate sufficient to witness him grace a racecourse. He actually was the folks’s horse.
“Coaching Greatest Mate, I learnt lots concerning the significance of persistence,” says Henrietta Knight. “When you already know you will have a gifted horse in your arms, it’s critical to not hurry it.
“Most of the racehorses who come to my yard for assist with their leaping haven’t been given the time to develop and have been produced too shortly, so we take them again to fundamentals.”
Jim Culloty remembers: “Earlier than Greatest Mate’s debut beneath Guidelines, I used to be truly shopping for a jacket from a stall at Stratford races and I used to be haggling over the worth with the man promoting me the jacket.
“In the long run, he mentioned, ‘If you happen to may give me a horse to observe this season, I provides you with the jacket.’ So I replied, ‘A horse referred to as Greatest Mate within the bumper at Cheltenham subsequent week.’ We gained and I received my free jacket!”
After profitable the King George, McCoy mentioned: “He’s the mannequin racehorse. The most effective chaser I’ve ever ridden, merely the very best round in the mean time. I’d marry him if I had the prospect.”
Greatest Mate reality file
Died as a 10yo, bay thoroughbred gelding
Coach: Henrietta Knight
Proprietor: Jim Lewis
Breeder: Jacques van’t Hart
Jockey: Jim Culloty
Type: 11221/1112/1221/111/211/12/P
Greatest outcomes: gained the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2002, 2003, 2004; the King George VI Chase in 2002; the 2001 Haldon Gold Cup; the 2002 Peterborough Chase; gained 14 races from 22 begins and completed second seven occasions
Whole profession earnings: £1,022,436
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Credit score: Sportsfile through Getty Photos
Credit score: Sportsfile through Getty Photos
Credit score: Future
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