One of the most prestigious races in horse racing, the Cheltenham Gold Cup takes place at 3:30 on Friday and its winners over the years have become household names overnight.
From the multiple winners of yesteryear like Arkle and Best Mate, to modern-day greats such as Al Boum Photo and Minella Indo, any winner of the Gold Cup is immortalised into Cheltenham history.
Friday afternoon will see the 94th Gold Cup take place, and it boasts a total prize fund of £625,000.
Both of the last two winners, Al Boum Photo, in 2019 and 2020, and Minella Indo, the defending champion are in the field again.
Before Al Boum Photo and Paul Townend’s first triumph together, there were 11 different winners in 11 years from 2008 to 2018.
The longest price winner of those was Lord Windermere in 2014, ridden by Davy Russell, who won at 20/1. Russell goes again this year with Galvin, the second favourite.
Minella Indo last year was also a minor upset last year having been priced at 9/1.
Before Al Boum Photo, Kauto Star was the most recent double champion, taking the honours in 2007 and 2009.
Best Mate won three years in a row after the turn of the millennium, ridden by Jim Culloty on all three occasions and his dominance being shown by the fact that he was odds-on for the final of the three wins.
There were three long-price winners in successive years from 1997 to 1999, with Mr Mulligan (20/1), Cool Dawn (25/1) and See More Business (16/1) all upsetting the odds.
Arguably the best upset in Gold Cup history came in 1990, when Norton’s Coin incredibly won from 100/1.
Other famous multiple winners include L’Escargot, who won back-to-back in 1970 and 1971, and the aforementioned Arkle, who won three years in a row in the mid 60s.
The most successful Gold Cup horse is Golden Miller, the only horse to win both the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same year.
That came in 1934, with the Irish horse winning at Cheltenham in five consecutive years from 1932 to 1936.
Al Boum Photo is priced at 11/1 to become the first three-time winner since Best Mate, while you can get 6/1 on Minella Indo to go back-to-back.