Comparing steeplechasers from different generations, in an effort to determine which was the ‘greatest’ of all time, is a popular, but ultimately, futile activity. However, although he raced long before the advent of Timeform ratings or any other empirical measure that would allow comparisons to be made, Golden Miller must surely be considered, at least, one of the greatest.

Owned by Dorothy Paget – an extremely wealthy, but plain, hefty woman, with a reputation as fearsome as the horse himself – and trained, initially, by Basil Briscoe, Golden Miller won the Cheltenham Gold Cup five consecutive times between 1932 and 1936. Even allowing for the fact that the Cheltenham Gold Cup, at that time, was not the ‘Blue Riband’ event it later became, no other horse – not even the mighty Arkle – has won the race more than three times.

Of course, following his third win in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, in 1934, as a seven-year-old, Golden Miller went on to win the Grand National under top weight of 12st 2lb. Not only did he beat Delaneige by 5 lengths but, in so doing, he beat the previous course record, which had stood for 72 years, by 9.6 seconds. In fact, his winning time of 9 minutes 20.4 seconds wouldn’t be beaten for 40 years and, even then, it took the legendary Red Rum to do so. Golden Miller remains the only horse ever to have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season. Of course the world of sport moves on so much – we’re at the point of AI Football Tips now – and so Golden Miller and his successes were most definitely part of a different time.

Despite being described by one racing journalist as ‘a god on four legs’, Golden Miller fared less well on subsequent attempts in the Grand National. In fact, his refusal on the first circuit in 1935, when sent off the shortest-priced favourite in National history, caused Paget to fall out with Briscoe and transfer Golden Miller to Owen Anthony. Anthony saddled the horse to win a fifth, and final, Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1936, but Golden Miller failed to complete the National Course again in 1936 and 1937.

The Elite Hurdle is a Grade 2 hurdle run over 1 mile, 7 furlongs and 50 yards at Wincanton in early November. Currently sponsored by Unibet, the race was inaugurated, on the Old Course at Cheltenham, in 1992 and was originally run over a distance of 2 miles and 87 yards. The inaugural running featured just four runners, but the winner, Morley Street, had won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival the previous year and the second, Granville Again, would do so the following year. No race was staged in 1993, but the Elite Hurdle was resurrected at Wincantion the following year, at which point it was shortened to its current yardage.

Reigning champion trainer Paul Nicholls has saddled eight winners of the Elite Hurdle – namely Azertyuiop (2001), Santenay (2002), Perouse (2004), Celestial Halo (2009 & 2011), Zarkandar (2012), Irving (2015) and Knappers Hill (2022) – and is the leading trainer in the history of the race. However, it is worth noting that all bar one of his winners, Knappers Hill, came during the period, between 1998 and 2017, when the Elite Hurdle was run as a limited handicap, rather than a weight-for-age conditions race. Evergreen 11-year-old Sceau Royal, trained by Alan King, has run in the last six renewals of the Elite Hurdle, winning three times, in 2016, 2020 and 2021, and is the most successful horse in the history of the race.

Other notable winners down the years include Well Chief (2003), who won the Arkle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival in 2004 and finished second to Moscow Flyer in the Queen Mother Champion Chase the following season. As far as future winners of the Elite Hurdle are concerned, recent trends suggest that the horses to focus on are those officially rated 146 or higher, who have run at least six times over hurdles, and won at least three times, including at least once at Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 level.