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.