2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup
The 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a horse race which took place at Cheltenham on Friday 18 March 2005. It was the 77th running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and it was won by the pre-race favourite Kicking King. The winner was ridden by Barry Geraghty and trained by Tom Taaffe.
Kicking King was the first winner of the Gold Cup to be trained in Ireland since Imperial Call in 1996. The three-time winner Best Mate was withdrawn from the race a week earlier after bursting a blood vessel. A fourth day was added to the Cheltenham Festival this year, and the Gold Cup was switched to a new day, Friday.
Race details
- Sponsor: Totesport
- Winner's prize money: £212,268.40
- Going: Good
- Number of runners: 15
- Winner's time: 6m 42.9s
Full result
| * | Horse | Age | Jockey | Trainer † | SP | |
| 1 | Kicking King | 7 | Barry Geraghty | Tom Taaffe (IRE) | 4/1 fav | |
| 2 | 5 | Take the Stand | 9 | Tony Dobbin | Peter Bowen | 25/1 |
| 3 | 8 | Sir Rembrandt | 9 | Andrew Thornton | Robert Alner | 12/1 |
| 4 | nk | Royal Auclair | 8 | Christian Williams | Paul Nicholls | 40/1 |
| 5 | 9 | Grey Abbey | 11 | Graham Lee | Howard Johnson | 15/2 |
| 6 | 1¼ | Strong Flow | 8 | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls | 5/1 |
| 7 | ½ | Celestial Gold | 7 | Timmy Murphy | Martin Pipe | 9/2 |
| 8 | 14 | Ballycassidy | 9 | Seamus Durack | Peter Bowen | 80/1 |
| 9 | 11 | Therealbandit | 8 | Tony McCoy | Martin Pipe | 16/1 |
| 10 | dist | Astonville | 11 | Tom Scudamore | Michael Scudamore | 500/1 |
| PU | Fence 21 | Beef or Salmon | 9 | Paul Carberry | Michael Hourigan (IRE) | 5/1 |
| PU | Fence 21 | Venn Ottery | 10 | Jamie Moore | Martin Pipe | 200/1 |
| PU | Fence 20 | Tiutchev | 12 | Robert Thornton | Martin Pipe | 50/1 |
| PU | Fence 19 | Truckers Tavern | 10 | Brian Harding | Ferdy Murphy | 100/1 |
| Fell | Fence 17 | Pizarro | 8 | Davy Russell | Edward O'Grady (IRE) | 14/1 |
* The distances between the horses are shown in lengths or shorter. nk = neck; PU = pulled-up.
† Trainers are based in Great Britain unless indicated.
Winner's details
Further details of the winner, Kicking King:
- Foaled: 10 April 1998, in Ireland
- Sire: Old Vic; Dam: Fairy Blaze (Good Thyne)
- Owner: Conor Clarkson
- Breeder: Sunnyhill Stud