Best Mate among 40 going for Gold

A total of 40 chasers - eight more than 12 months ago - have been entered in the 2005 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup, a race in which Best Mate will bid for an historic fourth successive win on Friday, March 18.

All the leading contenders are entered for the Blue Riband of steeplechasing, which will be run on the final day of the first-ever four-day Festival this year and carry £350,000 in prize money.

Stan James King George VI Chase winner Kicking King is one of five Irish-trained entries along with Beef Or Salmon, who lowered Best Mate´s colours in last month´s Lexus Chase at Leopardstown, and 2004 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup third Harbour Pilot.

Last year´s totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup second Sir Rembrandt and his stablemate, the King George VI Chase third Kingscliff, have been entered by Robert Alner, while Martin Pipe has four possibles to give him a first success in the premier chase, Celestial Gold, Our Vic, Therealbandit and Tiutchev.

Among the exciting younger performers entered are Nigel Twiston-Davies´s novice chasers Fundamentalist and Ollie Magern, Iris´s Gift, who won what is now the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at the 2004 Festival, last season´s Hennessy Gold Cup hero Strong Flow, Murphy´s Cardinal, from Noel Chance´s dual Gold Cup-winning stable, and Ferdy Murphy´s exciting novice Your A Gassman. The sole entry from France is Solarius, trained by Richard Chotard for Kent-based owner Fergus Wilson.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase never attracts a huge field but there are rarely few more exciting events than the two-mile contest, run this year on Wednesday, March 16.

Last year´s winner Azertyuiop is set to do battle with his old rival Moscow Flyer, who fell in 2004 following his success 12 months earlier, while last season´s Irish Independent Arkle Chase victor Well Chief adds further spice to this year´s two-mile championship.

Paul Nicholls accounts for no less than six of the 19 entries and - along with Azertyuiop - his representatives are Armaturk, Cenkos, Great Travel, Kadarann and Thisthatantother.

Last week´s skybet.com Castleford Chase winner Mister McGoldrick, Mark Rimell´s stable star Oneway, recent Leopardstown Grade 1 winner Central House, 2002 Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Flagship Uberalles and Fundamentalist are among the other entries.

There are once again supplementary entry stages five days before each race, costing £17,500 for the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup and £12,500 for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Edward Gillespie, Cheltenham´s Managing Director, said: 'The countdown to this year´s inaugural four-day Festival really gets underway today with the announcement of the entries for the two flagship events over fences, the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup and Queen Mother Champion Chase.

'Both races are already eagerly-anticipated as Best Mate bids to extend his amazing record of success and there promises to be a great battle for the two-mile chasing crown.'

Simon Claisse, Cheltenham´s Clerk of the Course, added: 'The totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup entries are more than we could have hoped for and while the Queen Mother Champion Chase entries are slightly down in numbers on last year, they are very much in line with expectations given the strength of the principals and the addition of the two-and-a-half mile Daily Telegraph Trophy Chase to The Festival.'