Cheltenham December Gold Cup: Spinal Research The Atlantic 4 Gold Cup 2012

The December Gold Cup, is a Class 1, Grade 3 steeple-chase run at Cheltenham Racecourse over a distance of 2m 5f with the horses taking on seventeen fences before crossing the finishing line and is a highlight of The International Cheltenham two-day meeting which takes place on Friday 9th December and Saturday 10th December 2012.

Run as a handicap, the running of the 2011 December Gold Cup Steeple Chase will take place on Saturday December 10th with entries closing on November 22nd 2011 and is open to horses aged four and above.

The 2011 running of the Cheltenham December Gold Cup has a prize pool of £100, 000 with £56,950 going to the winning horse with prize-money being paid down to the horse finishing sixth.  This year the Cheltenham December Gold Cup has a new sponsor, the Stewart family, who are best known for their ownership of racehorses such as Big Buck’s trained by the National Hunt champion trainer Paul Nicholls.  The December Gold Cup will be known as the Spinal Research The Atlantic 4 Gold Cup 2012, the sponsorship aiming to raise awareness of Adam Wolley, Greg Symondson, Hugo Turner and Ross Turner’s efforts to raise £150,000 Spinal Research by rowing across the Atlantic Ocean.

Although known last year as the Vote A.P. Gold Cup 2010, Cheltenham’s December Gold Cup was first run in 1963 and won that year by the Danny Morgan trained Limeking, ridden by jockey Toss Taaffe.

Originally sponsored by tractor manufacturer Massey Ferguson, the December Gold Cup bore the name the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup from its inception in 1943 until 1980. Although it has had various titles since then, including the 2005 Robin Cook Memorial Gold Cup, run in memory of former government minister and racing fan Robin Cook, and the 2010 Vote A.P. Gold Cup; sponsor Boylesports have supported the race since 2006, naming it the Boylesports.com Gold Cup.

The December Gold Cup has been abandoned seven times in its history – in 1967 due to foot-and-mouth disease, falling foul of the frost in 1976, 1995 and 2001, due to the snow in 1981 and 1990 and due to water logging of the course in 2008. In 2003 the race was run on the Cheltenham Old Course over the slightly shorter distance of 2m 4 ½f.

Given that the Paddy Power Gold Cup runs over the same course, albeit over ½ a furlong shorter distance, many horses which have run in the Paddy Power Gold Cup will also take their chances in the December Boylesports.com Gold Cup. Three horses have won the Paddy Power Gold Cup and then gone on to win the December Gold Cup in the same season – these being Pegwell Bay ridden by jockey now turned trainer Brendan Powell in 1988, the Susan Nock trained Senor El Betrutti in 1997 and the Jonjo O’Neil trained Exotic Dancer who won the race in 2006; sadly going on to lose his life after the Totesport Bowl at Aintree in 2009 when he suffered a heart attack in his box shortly after finishing a brave second to Madison Du Berlais.

The most successful horse in the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham is the Paul Nicholls trained Poquelin, a French black gelding by Lahint out of Babolna, who won the race with back-to-back victories in 2009 and 2010.

The leading jockeys in the Boylesports.com Gold Cup, each who won the race twice are:

Ron Barry whose jumps racing career spanned a period of twenty or so years in the 1960s to 1980s won the December Gold Cup onboard the Gordon Richards trained Titus Oates in 1969 and the Peter Easterby trained Easby Abbey in 1975. Ron Barry’s big race wins also include the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown in 1971, 1973 and 1974. He also won the Scottish Grand National and the Mackeson Gold Cup (now the Paddy Power Gold Cup) in the same year he won the December Gold Cup onboard Titus Oates.
Tony Dobbin won the December Gold Cup onboard the Gordon Richard trained Addington Boy in 1996 and on the Jonjo O’Neil trained Exotic Dancer in 2006. Tony Dobbin won over 1,200 during his career including winning the 1997 Grand National onboard Lord Gyllene.

Richard Johnson won the Boylesports.com Gold Cup onboard the Jonjo O’Neil trained Legal Right in 1999 and with the Phillip Hobbs trained Monkerhostin in 2004. In 2003 Johnson became only the eighth National Hunt jockey to have ridden 1,000 winners, taking only a further six years to double his tally, recording his 2,000th winner aboard Fighting Chance at Newbury Racecourse.
Mick Fitzgerald won the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham twice for Seven Burrows trainer Nicky Henderson with Fondmort in 2002 and Iris Royal the following year in 2003. As well as winning the Grand National on Rough Quest in 1996, Mick Fitzgerald also saw victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1999 on the Paul Nicholls trained See More Business. Having picked up a spinal injury after falling from L’Ami in the 2008 Grand National, Mick Fitzgerald announced his retirement from racing working as a commentator now for racing channel At the Races as well as the BBC and Channel Four.

Brendan Powell won the Boylesports.com Gold Cup aboard Pegwell Bay in 1988 and the Tim Forster trained Dubin Flyer in 1994. A top-class National Hunt jockey Brendan Powell rode 684 winners, including David Elsworth’s Grand National winner Rhyme ‘n’ Reason in 1988. Since 2001 Brendan Powell has held a dual-purpose training licence and is now based at Newlands Stables in Upper Lambourn, the “valley of the racehorse”, in Berkshire.

Leading winning trainers of the December Gold Cup are the legendary Gordon Richards and Fred Winter, each enjoying three wins in the race. Gordon Richards secured victory with Titus Oates in 1969, Clever Folly in 1989 and Addington Boy in 1996. Wins for Fred Winter came with Pendil in 1973, Observe in 1982 and Fifty Dollars More in 1983.

The 2010 running of the Vote A.P. Gold Cup held on 11th December was won by the Paul Nicholls trained gelding Poquelin, ridden by Ian Popham. The Jojo O’Neil trained Sunnyhillboy came home third, but it was very much a two horse race between Great Endeavour for David Pipe’s stable and Poquelin that contested the race coming to the last. Timmy Murphy aboard Great Endeavour could find nothing extra when he put the horse under pressure and so it was Poquelin who stayed on gamely and asserted himself over the final one hundred yards, taking the race by a length. Henrietta Knight’s Calgary Bay finished fourth.

The December Gold Cup Steeple Chase – Cheltenham Racecourse Saturday, December 10th 2011

Important Race Information:

Total Prize Money: £100,000

Winner: £56,950
2nd: £21,370
3rd: £10,700
4th: £5,330
5th: £2,680
6th: £1,340

Penalty for any winner of a steeple chase after 27th November 2011: 5lbs (though no penalty will be awarded to take the horse over 11st 12lb).

Entries close on November 22nd 2011
Entry Fees:
For all horses: £150
Additional £350 is to be paid if entry confirmed.