How Many Times Did 'Best Mate' Win At Cheltenham?

Best Mate was considered one of the best-loved racehorses in the history of Uk racing.  The horse was owned by Jim Lewis and trained by Henrietta Knight

He was born in Ireland in January 1995 and died suddenly of a heart attack in November 2005.  His death came as a huge shock to millions of race goers and pictures of his last moment made front-page headlines in the newspapers and was covered extensively on TV.  

He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup 3 times in 2002, 2003 and 2004 ridden by Jim Culloty.  This equalled the record of previous three-time winner Arkle.  In 2005 he was withdrawn from the race due to bursting a blood vessel on the gallops.  Foot and Mouth prevented him from taking part in the 2001 race as well.

Jockey Paul Carberry pulled him up in a race at Exeter on November 1 2005, and the horse collapsed and died a few minutes later.  He was cremated and his ashes scattered next to the winning post at Cheltenham in a ceremony, attended owner Jim Lewis who, 2 days before, had also lost his wife after a battle against cancer.