Win or lose, Mandarin had access to plenty of booze

1 The 1948 winner Cottage Rake was a triple Gold Cup hero but might well have managed four or five had it not been for a freak accident at home. He was always turned out in a paddock with a donkey for company, but one summer morning cattle were left in the field and the donkey was caught up in the herd. When Cottage Rake couldn't see his friend he went half-mad and galloped wildly around the field, injuring himself in the process. He returned to racing after a year's absence but never won again.

2 The youngest horse to win the race was the five-year-old Manicou in 1950, who was the first horse owned solely by the Queen Mother. Her previous foray into ownership was with the ill-fated Monaveen, who was shared with her daughter Princess Elizabeth.

3 Brilliant little Mandarin, winner in 1957 and 1959, drank water like any other equine but had his liquid intake topped up every day by two bottles of Mackeson stout, delivered from a Lambourn pub to Fulke Walwyn's yard. The booze came courtesy of Colonel Bill Whitbread, who stood the daily round after Mandarin had finished runner-up for the third consecutive year in the big Sandown chase that carried the Colonel's name and sponsorship money.