The December Gold Cup (run since 2024 as the Nyetimber December Gold Cup) is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 4½ furlongs (2 miles 4 furlongs and 127 yards, or 4,139 metres), and during its running there are seventeen fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in December.
The event was first run in 1963. It was originally sponsored by Massey Ferguson and known as the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup. The race continued with this title until 1980, but since then it has had various sponsors and consequently several title changes. The 2005 running was named the Robin Cook Memorial Gold Cup. This was in memory of Robin Cook (1946–2005), a former Foreign Secretary who was a keen racing enthusiast. Boylesports supported the race from 2006 to 2009 as the Boylesports.com Gold Cup. The 2010 race was run as the Vote A P Gold Cup as part of a successful campaign to encourage racegoers to vote for Tony McCoy in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. In 2011 the racehorse owner Andy Stewart began backing the race to promote the Spinal Research charity, following a spinal injury suffered by his son Paul in 2008. The race was run as the Spinal Research The Atlantic 4 Gold Cup in 2011, the Paul Stewart IronSpine Charity Challenge Gold Cup in 2012 and was then named the Stewart Family Thank You Gold Cup in 2013. From 2014 to 2020 it was run as the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup and in 2021 it was titled the Racing Post Gold Cup. The race has become commonly known in the racing media as the December Gold Cup. and in 2022 Ais took over sponsorship and the word December appeared in the official race title. Nyetimber have sponsored the race since 2023. The race was give Grade 3 status when the National Hunt Pattern was revised in 1989 and was re-classified as a Premier Handicap from the 2022 running when Grade 3 status was renamed by the BHA.
The race is often contested by horses which ran previously in the Paddy Power Gold Cup (also formerly known by other titles). Three have won both races in the same season – Pegwell Bay, Senor El Betrutti and Exotic Dancer.
Records Most successful horse (2 wins) : Poquelin – (2009),(2010) Frodon - (2016, 2018)
Leading jockey (3 wins): Richard Johnson – Legal Right (1999), Monkerhostin (2004) Village Vic (2015)
Leading trainer (5 wins): Paul Nicholls – Poquelin (2009, 2010), Unioniste (2012), Frodon (2016, 2018)
Winners Weights given in stones and pounds. Year Winner Age Weight Jockey Trainer 1963 Limeking 6 10–12 Toss Taaffe Danny Morgan 1964 Flying Wild 8 10-06 Tommy Carberry Dan Moore 1965 Flyingbolt 6 12-06 Pat Taaffe Tom Dreaper 1966 The Laird 5 10-09 Jeff King Bob Turnell 1967 no race 1967 1968 Tassilo 10 10-01 Aly Branford Fulke Walwyn 1969 Titus Oates 7 11–13 Ron Barry Gordon W. Richards 1970 Simian 8 11-08 David Moore Auriol Sinclair 1971 Leap Frog 7 12-01 Val O'Brien Tom Dreaper 1972 Arctic Bow 7 10–12 Andrew Turnell Bob Turnell 1973 Pendil 8 12-07 Richard Pitman Fred Winter 1974 Garnishee 10 10-06 David Mould Harry Thomson Jones 1975 Easby Abbey 8 11-10 Ron Barry Peter Easterby 1976 no race 1976 1977 Even Melody 8 11-02 Colin Hawkins Neville Crump 1978 The Snipe 8 10-00 Anthony Webber John Webber 1979 Father Delaney 7 10–10 Alan Brown Peter Easterby 1980 Bueche Giorod 9 10-00 Bryan Smart Jenny Pitman 1981 no race 1981 1982 Observe 6 10–11 John Francome Fred Winter 1983 Fifty Dollars More 8 11-10 Richard Linley Fred Winter 1984 Beau Ranger 6 09-10 John Hurst John Thorne 1985 Combs Ditch 9 11-09 Colin Brown David Elsworth 1986 Oregon Trail 6 10-07 Ronnie Beggan Simon Christian 1987 Bishops Yarn 8 10-07 Richard Guest Toby Balding 1988 Pegwell Bay 7 10–13 Brendan Powell Tim Forster 1989 Clever Folly 9 10-04 Neale Doughty Gordon W. Richards 1990 no race 1990 1991 Kings Fountain 8 11–10 Anthony Tory Kim Bailey 1992 Another Coral 9 11-04 Richard Dunwoody David Nicholson 1993 Fragrant Dawn 9 10-02 Declan Murphy Martin Pipe 1994 Dublin Flyer 8 10-02 Brendan Powell Tim Forster 1995 no race 1995 1996 Addington Boy 8 11–10 Tony Dobbin Gordon W. Richards 1997 Senor El Betrutti 8 11-03 Graham Bradley Susan Nock 1998 Northern Starlight 7 10-01 Tony McCoy Martin Pipe 1999 Legal Right 6 10–13 Richard Johnson Jonjo O'Neill 2000 Go Roger Go 8 11-00 Norman Williamson Edward O'Grady 2001 no race 2001 2002 Fondmort 6 10-05 Mick Fitzgerald Nicky Henderson 2003 Iris Royal 7 10–13 Mick Fitzgerald Nicky Henderson 2004 Monkerhostin 7 10-02 Richard Johnson Philip Hobbs 2005 Sir Oj 8 10-00 Paul Carberry Noel Meade 2006 Exotic Dancer 6 11-04 Tony Dobbin Jonjo O'Neill 2007 Tamarinbleu 7 11-08 Denis O'Regan David Pipe 2008 no race 2008 2009 Poquelin 6 11-08 Ruby Walsh Paul Nicholls 2010 Poquelin 7 11-07 Ian Popham Paul Nicholls 2011 Quantitativeeasing 6 10-07 Barry Geraghty Nicky Henderson 2012 Unioniste 4 10-00 Harry Derham Paul Nicholls 2013 Double Ross 7 10-08 Sam Twiston-Davies Nigel Twiston-Davies 2014 Niceonefrankie 8 11-05 Aidan Coleman Venetia Williams 2015 Village Vic 8 10-00 Richard Johnson Philip Hobbs 2016 Frodon 4 10-10 Sam Twiston-Davies Paul Nicholls 2017 Guitar Pete 7 10-02 Ryan Day Nicky Richards 2018 Frodon 6 11-12 Bryony Frost Paul Nicholls 2019 Warthog 7 10-03 David Noonan David Pipe 2020 Chatham Street Lad 8 10-10 Darragh O'Keeffe Michael Winters 2021 Coole Cody 10 10-12 Adam Wedge Evan Williams 2022 no race 2022 2023 Fugitif 8 11-03 Gavin Sheehan Richard Hobson 2024 Gemirande 8 10-02 Charlie Deutsch Venetia Williams 2025 Glengouly 9 10-02 Sean Bowen Faye Bramley
See also Horse racing in Great Britain List of British National Hunt races
References
Racing Post: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , pedigreequery.com – Boylesports.com Gold Cup Chase – Cheltenham.
External links Race Recordings (1965, 1973, 1979–2003) youtube.com