Gold Cup Trivia
- Until 6 October 2001, there was a 9% tax on all stakes. Luckily, this tax was abolished and you can now take home your full winnings from the Cheltenham Gold Cup!
- A record number of horses have been injured or killed at the Cheltenham Festival. As a result, some of the fences were resized and the number of horses per race was reduced.
- In 1974, Captain
Christy won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, becoming the first novice to do so.
- In 1979, Tied Cottage fell at the last fence after leading the race. The following year, Tied Cottage won the race but was disqualified when the jockey tested positive for a banned substance.
- In 1990, Norton’s Coin won the Gold Cup with odds of 100/1!
- On five occasions, the Cheltenham Festival had to be cancelled due to frost (1931), flooding (1937), World War II (1943,1944), and, most recently, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (2001) which affected horse racing around the world.
- The Cheltenham Racecourse hosts more than 8500 races in a season, with more than 92,000 runners. It pays out more than 95 million pounds in prize money.
- In 2008, all three horses trained by Paul Nicholls took the top three berths of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Denman in first place, Kauto Star in second and Neptune Collonges coming in at third place.
