Best Mate

Two images immortalize the 2003 Cheltenham Festival: the brilliant Best Mate sprinting clear in the Gold Cup, and trainer Henrietta Knight embracing husband Terry Biddlecombe in a celebration, not just of victory but of life itself. This is Henrietta's own story on the horse and the hug. Best Mate is the most exciting racehorse in the world. His string of successes, culminating in back-to-back Cheltenham Gold Cup wins, have made him a TV superstar. In telling the horse's story - from a rain-soaked foal stranded on an Irish hillside to the big, bold and ballet-supple athlete who now pitches for a third Gold Cup - Henrietta has also recounted her own romantic tale. How she, an aristocratic former school teacher, met Terry Biddlecombe, the Prince Hall of his own champion jockey era, thus forging a rock solid if rather implausible double act that has been so instumental in helping each through their difficult times. Working with "Sunday Times" journalist Andrew Longmore, Henrietta Knight has produced an interesting insight into the making of a champion and the shared dreams that sustain those around him.