Which horse holds the course record for the Cheltenham Gold Cup?

The Cheltenham Gold Cup, run over 3 miles 2½ furlongs on the New Course at Prestbury Park, is the most prestigious steeplechase in Europe. Consequently, the race is usually contested by a competitive, double-figure field of the finest staying steeplechasers in training and invariably run at an end-to-end gallop, which offers no hiding place for any horse lacking jumping ability and/or stamina.

With that in mind, the 2011 renewal of the Cheltenham Gold Cup produced one of the strongest fields ever assembled, including Kauto Star, Denman and Imperial Commander who, between them, had won the last four renewals of the Gold Cup. Favourite, though, was the six-year-old Long Run, fresh from victory in the rearranged King George VI Chase at Kempton in January and vying to become the first of his age group to win the ‘Blue Riband’ event since Mill House in 1963.

Indeed, it was Long Run who justified his billing, putting in a superb display of jumping and powering away in the closing stages to beat Denman by 7 lengths, with Kauto Star a further 4 lengths behind in third place. Fittingly, his winning time, 6 minutes 29.70 seconds, set a new course record for the Cheltenham Gold Cup since it was transferred to the New Course in 1959.