William Randolph Hearst, not known to have been an iceboater himself, in 1904 sponsored the gold-lined Hearst Cup, awarded to the fastest stern steerer.
McCoy had wanted a big return at Cheltenham along the lines of his 1997 Champion Hurdle-Gold Cup double on Make A Stand and Mr Mulligan.
It was the ultimate low in a turbulent career that began with Murphy working weekends for Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning trainer Noel Chance while still a schoolboy.
That haul included a Champion Hurdle-Gold Cup double for trainer Kim Bailey on Alderbrook and Master Oats, Williamson becoming the 10th jockey to accomplish the feat and the first for 34 years.
He also confirmed the three-day Grand National Festival had benefited from the cancellation of the Cheltenham Gold Cup due to the foot-and-mouth crisis.
If the formbook is to be believed, Warne's final one-day match in the green-and-gold will be the World Cup final itself, perhaps against the host nation South Africa.
The Gold Cup was eventually re-run at the end of the day's card, when it was won by Frankie Dettori on Opinion Poll, but two horses failed to finish.
Even the horses got in on the act, with Best Mate retaining his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown, High Chaparral winning the Breeders' Cup Turf again - and Persian Punch continuing to duck retirement and keep on winning.
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McCoy eventually remounted and started the race, but Synchronised - who was bidding to become the first horse since Golden Miller in 1934 to win the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season -- fell at the sixth fence and subsequently had to be put down.
Best Mate remains firmly at the head of the ante-post market for the Gold Cup after the Pillar Chase, usually a reliable trial, proved disappointing.
The 2009 Paddy Power Gold Cup winner obliged at 5-2 for trainer Edward O'Grady, ahead of J'y Vole in second, with former RSA Chase winner Cooldine out of the places for Mullins.
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Denman was a short-priced favourite to go one better than when chasing stable-mate Kauto Star in the Gold Cup.
Conor O'Dwyer's mount, who is being aimed at another Gold Cup tilt, claimed an 11-length win in the Star "Best For Racing" Chase.
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Yeats ridden by Kieren Fallon won the the Ascot Gold Cup by four lengths ahead of Reefscape and pre-race favourite Distinction.
Chastain went on to win another World Cup and an Olympic gold medal in her brilliant 16-year career.
The progressive Lie Forrit holds an entry for Willie Amos, while former Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition is one of 12 Irish-trained possibles.
The former world number one had also been among the pre-event favourites for Sunday's King George V Gold Cup on Sunday aboard his probable London 2012 horse Gig Amai.
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World Cup leader Tina Maze won gold in Tuesday's super-G ahead of Lara Gut of Switzerland and third-placed American Julia Mancuso.
Shiffrin, who last year became the youngest American to win a national alpine skiing championship, heads the slalom standings by 22 points from Hofl-Riesch -- the overall World Cup champion in 2011 and a double Olympic gold medalist.
Klinsmann debuts in a game that is also a rematch of the Gold Cup final in June, when Mexico came back to win a thrilling 4-2 game in front of 90, 000 thousand (mostly pro-Mexican) fans in the Rose Bowl.
Yorkshire-born Bradley's career in the saddle included victory in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Bregawn.
He is set to excel at the Gold Cup distance, and has to be very seriously considered, especially at decent each-way odds.
BBC: SPORT | Other sport... | Horse Racing | Friday at Cheltenham
Like Ghana, Nigeria has shown promise at youth level, winning U-17 World Cup titles in 1985, 1993 and 2007, and winning Olympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Going into 2010, McCoy had won every major horse race, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase, but the world's most famous race - the Grand National - had eluded him.
"The Gold Cup is the one everyone wants to win and it's one of the hardest - and we have had a few tries before, I think Chaplins Club finished second twice and fourth once, " said Chapman.
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Former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kauto Star will be in action in Saturday's JNwine.com Champion Chase - the big race in the two-day festival.
He won the World Cup crown three times in four years from 1997-98 to 2000-01 and claimed two gold medals at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
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