The History of the Cheltenham Festival: 100 Years of The Gold Cup

The Cheltenham Festival is a sporting event like no other. Its history features
names that resonate across the ages, such as equine celebrities Kauto Star,
Best Mate, Denman, Golden Miller and Arkle, jockeys from Pat Taaffe to Ruby
Walsh and Rachael Blackmore, and masterful trainers of the likes of Willie
Mullins and Nicky Henderson.

The biggest occasion in the jump season calendar, the festival boasts some
of the most high profile races in the sport, including the Champion Hurdle,
the Queen Mother Champion Chase, The Stayers’ Hurdle as well as the
Cheltenham Gold Cup, and to win to the sound of the famous “Cheltenham
Roar” is the dream of every chaser or hurdler, from amateur to novice to
seasoned jumper.

Marking the centenary of the Gold Cup, this book traces the Cheltenham
Festival’s evolution from humble beginnings into an incredible spectacle where
the aristocracy mingle with day trippers, while the Irish arrive in their thousands
to make this small Gloucester town seem like an outpost of the Emerald Isle.

A glorious celebration of the world’s greatest jump-racing event,
showcasing 100 years of the incomparable Cheltenham Gold Cup