The Bet365 Gold Cup is a Grade 3 National Huntsteeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (3 miles, 4 furlongs and 166 yards, or 5,784 metres), and during its running there are twenty-four fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late April.
History
The event was established in 1957, and it was originally called the Whitbread Gold Cup. It was sponsored by Whitbread Brewers at the instigation of Colonel Bill Whitbread, the company's chairman, who had twice ridden in the Grand National as an amateur jockey. It was the first commercial sponsorship in British sport, and the longest-running until it ended in 2001.[1]
2011 Bet365 Gold Cup
In recent years the race has been sponsored by At the Races (2002–03), Betfred (2004–07) and Bet365 (2008–). The record for the longest-running sponsorship of a British horse race is now held by the Hennessy Gold Cup, which was launched seven months after the "Whitbread" and was sponsored by Hennessy until the 2016 running.
The Bet365 Gold Cup takes place at a meeting which features both jump and flat races and marks the end of the National Hunt racing season in Great Britain. Other events at this meeting include the Celebration Chase, the Gordon Richards Stakes and the Sandown Mile.
Records
Most successful horse (2 wins):
Larbawn – 1968, 1969
Diamond Edge – 1979, 1981
Topsham Bay – 1992, 1993
Ad Hoc – 2001, 2003
Leading jockey (3 wins):
Ron Barry – Titus Oates (1971), Charlie Potheen (1973), The Dikler (1974)
