SEARCH
CHELTENHAM GOLD CUPS of the 1980's (1980-1989)
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is not just any race. First run in 1819 as a flat race, SPECTRE was the winner, taking home a prize of 100 guineas. Since then, horse racing legends have been born at the Gold Cup. GOLDEN MILLER for example won five years running in the 1930's, while ARKLE was the darling of the race in the 1960's. BEST MATE won the Gold Cup three years in a row from 2002 and more recently, the incomparable KAUTO STAR won the race twice and captured the hearts of the Cheltenham crowd.
This is a race of champions, which is run over a notoriously arduous course with a distance of 3 miles 2½ furlongs, which stretches over 22 fences and culminates in a challenging uphill sprint finish. Each year jockeys, trainers and owners hope to triumph in this premier race and with it write their names into the history books.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup as we now know it was inaugurated as a jump race in 1924 making it the oldest of the championship races at Cheltenham. That first running, on Wednesday, March 12, saw RED SPLASH defeat CONJUROR II by a head in an eight-runner field to bag a first prize of £685.
In its early years the Gold Cup did not enjoy the prestige it does in the modern era. It was often used as a trial for the Grand National in its early years, when it was overshadowed by the National Hunt Chase, and it took the exceptional accomplishments of GOLDEN MILLER (five-time winner 1932-1936) and triple-year winners COTTAGE RAKE (1948-1950) and ARKLE (1964-1966) to raise its profile above the humdrum.
Some of the most memorable Gold Cups took place in the 1980's: The disqualification of all-the-way winner TIED COTTAGE in 1980 for a positive dope test caused by contaminated feed also features amongst the Gold Cup's more infamous events. Arguably the greatest achievement by an individual came in 1983 when Michael Dickinson saddled the first five home: BREGAWN, CAPTAIN JOHN, WAYWARD LAD, SILVER BUCK and ASHLEY HOUSE; while the emotional successes of the filly, DAWN RUN, in 1986 and the hugely popular DESERT ORCHID, in 1989 will long be remembered.
Re-live the Cheltenham Gold Cups from the decade of the 80's (1980-1989) all in their entirety from gate to wire.
Here are the top finishers from each year shown in this compilation:
1980: 1) TIED COTTAGE** 2) MASTER SMUDGE 3) MAC VIDI (**TIED COTTAGE finished first but was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance from contaminated feed)
1981: 1) LITTLE OWL 2) NIGHT NURSE 3) SILVER BUCK
1982: 1) SILVER BUCK 2) BREGAWN 3) SUNSET CRISTO
1983: 1) BREGAWN 2) CAPTAIN JOHN 3) WAYWARD LAD
1984: 1) WAYWARD LAD 2) BROWN CHAMBERLIN 3) DRUMLARGAN
1985: 1) FORGIVE 'N FORGET 2) RIGHTHAND MAN 3) EARLS BRIG
1986: 1) DAWN RUN 2) WAYWARD LAD 3) FORGIVE 'N FORGET
1987: 1) THE THINKER 2) CYBRANDIAN 3) DOOR LATCH
1988: 1) CHARTER PARTY 2) CAVVIE'S CLOWN 3) BEA RANGER
1989: 1) DESERT ORCHID 2) YAHOO 3) CHARTER PARTY
(1 Hour and 24 Minutes)
Listing Info: | |
---|---|
Listing ID: | 1285 |
Format(s) Available: | DVD And VHS |
Category: | National Hunt / Jumps / Steeplechase |