Can Best Mate win again?

The elegant 10-year-old has had his good looks spoiled slightly by a fourinch facial scar sustained when he banged his head in a horsebox on the way to Ireland over Christmas, and, more importantly, the endearingly dotty couple who have crafted his stellar career with such skill and patience give the impression that even they feel the four-timer might just be one bridge too far.

Biddlecombe has never taken a backward step in his life, but his insistence that Best Mate "will win" is followed by the rider that good ground is a must and that "this is one of the best Gold Cups in years".

Knight reports that the horse she adores above all others "seems as good as ever" yet follows up with enough reservations to make even the most faithful follower think twice about wading in at around 5-2 when the first four-day Festival reaches its climax on Friday week.

"People tend to say you are whingeing when you make excuses," adds Knight. Indeed they do, and for the first time in history Best Mate needs a few excuses to be made for him.

First time out at Exeter this season he made hard work of beating the journeyman Seebald, while the only way a bid to win the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown in December could have gone worse was if the ferry had sunk on the way back to Holyhead.

"He got this nasty gash on his head on the box going over which needed stitching and then it never stopped raining," adds Knight. "He then did the splits at the first fence and pulled muscles in his chest, and to cap it all he came home coughing."

Beef Or Salmon sprinted seven lengths clear of Best Mate in the Lexus. Michael Hourigan's mercurial chestnut will loom large among the opposition again next week, and Knight is already planning her usual bevy of fiver bets designed to jinx her main rivals.

"I always back the ones I'm most worried about at the local Ladbrokes and this year it's going to cost me quite a bit," she adds.

"Grey Abbey has improved enormously and will set a fast pace, which will suit us. Strong Flow is a very good horse and jumps exceptionally well, while Kingscliff and Celestial Gold have both acted well round Cheltenham before and that is very important."

But once the superstitions and yearly rituals are put to bed, Knight knows full well that the 2005 Gold Cup revolves around whether Best Mate truly is as good as ever.

A reproduction of the form he showed to scramble home ahead of Sir Rembrandt and Harbour Pilot last year is unlikely to be good enough this time. Whether the sport is boxing or racing, a trainer can never be certain about when the roof is about to fall in on their champion.

Knight insists she is more relaxed than 12 months ago, which would hardly be difficult, but does her newfound calmness stem from a realisation that the game might finally be up?

Best Mate is her past and her present, yet for the first time since he began to dominate the chasing scene Knight is looking to a future in which others must come to the fore.

"It's hard to describe the thrills this horse has given us at Cheltenham," she adds. "When you walk into the winner's enclosure with him your heart nearly stops and for a while you don't feel as if you are on this planet, but we have to be prepared for this dream to come to an end.

"Fortunately, we have a wealth of young talent in the yard. It won't be the end of the world if he's beaten this time."

Perhaps not. But it will be the end of an era.