Racing: Toughest race earns Best Mate a respite

The hero of West Lockinge Stables was in a terrible state on Thursday night, which was hardly surprising after the huge exertions of a third consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph for the yard. But, fortunately for Terry Biddlecombe, his wife was there to tend him.

The hero of West Lockinge Stables was in a terrible state on Thursday night, which was hardly surprising after the huge exertions of a third consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph for the yard. But, fortunately for Terry Biddlecombe, his wife was there to tend him.

Biddlecombe had retired early after a celebratory glass of water. "When I got up there he was shivering, shaking and snoring," Henrietta Knight, Best Mate's trainer, said. "I had to get him a hot-water bottle."

The horse himself was in far better nick, with no sign of one anywhere on his burnished body yesterday morning. Jackie Jenner, his stablehand, had encouraged him towards his manger the previous evening, but little stimulation was needed. The champion wolfed down his supper.

Best Mate emerged into the gales at West Lockinge yesterday looking like the million dollars he has now almost doubled in career earnings. There will, however, be no compliance with owner Jim Lewis's suggestion that the nine-year-old should go to Leopardstown next month. Knight's X-ray eyes apparently see beyond the healthy exterior of her champion's hide.

"He's recovered very quickly on the surface, but, if you had to put the gun to his head, that race will probably have gone deeper than people realise," she said. "He really had to pull it out. You could race him again in two weeks' time but he would show the mark."

Best Mate, you can deduce, will meander very little from the programme that has made him Arkle's paper equal. An early planned route to a fourth Gold Cup begins with a drop back to 2m 2f for the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter in November, followed by a return to Leopardstown for the Ericsson Chase over Christmas. Kempton's King George VI Chase is already out.

"What people don't realise is that it's very difficult to get a horse of his calibre, any horse at this level, supremely fit on the day," Knight said. "You need that time to let a horse down and then rebuild him. The constitution cannot take continual pressure. You have to give it a chance to recover. He's not a big, robust horse anyway. He's elegant. He doesn't carry a lot of condition. He's not a big, round horse which needs a lot of work."

It was a time for reflection for Knight, something she had not been afforded for some time. She even managed to swear on camera on Thursday, which was testament to the emotional toll and the length of her marriage to Biddlecombe. "I really did feel the pressure yesterday," she said. "I felt ill. I was frightened.

"For the first time I've been able to sit down and not think about that race and have terrible butterflies in my tummy."

It was also time to remember the significant others in the plan. Jim Culloty's contribution began even before the competitive pulses started to race in Best Mate's saddle. "The last thing we told him to do was leave the horse's girths and make sure the starter did the same," Knight said. "You can stop a horse by girthing it too tight. If the saddle slides round his tummy we'll take responsibility."

There was also a mention for the neighbouring trainer Mick Channon, who had opened up the holy of holies, the summer gallop at West Ilsley, to assist Best Mate's preparation. "That is the hallowed turf," Knight said. "When Dick Hern was there we used to think of it as made of gold dust."

It had been a champagne night for Culloty in Luke Harvey's Blowing Stone pub at Kingston Lisle, but yesterday morning he was back on something fizzily softer in advance of a ride at Warwick. The Irishman was pleased with both his timing and that of the elements.

"It was on the soft side yesterday and he struggled," Culloty said. "If you watch him galloping, he hardly lifts a toe off the ground. That doesn't work as well on softer ground. It was his heart which saw him through. He's had as hard a race as he's ever had. On good ground yesterday he'd have pissed up.

"On the other hand, if it was like the Peterborough Chase [when Best Mate lost to Jair Du Cochet], the fifth race on the card after pouring down all day, we might have got beaten."