WHEN Worcestershire horse Best Mate galloped to a famous success in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March many suspected that the big jumps prizes would be his for the taking over the next few seasons.

And Henrietta Knight's strapping seven-year-old, owned by Jim Lewis from Callow End, did nothing but enhance that reputation with a tremendous battling performance in the Pertemps King George VI Chase at Kempton yesterday.

It was a success which led Tony McCoy to declare his love for the favourite after he provided plenty of Christmas cheer for punters in the £150,000 showpiece.

"I'd marry him if I could," gushed the champion jockey as he returned to the winner's enclosure on a horse who is starting to develop a substantial fan club.

Ecstatic owner Lewis said: "He's never been able to prove himself against the big horses on a fast course like this and I'm just over the moon.

"Now I'm beginning to believe the hype. I've ignored it before because my heart wouldn't stand it but now I'm beginning to believe it."

The 11-8 favourite chance now returns to Cheltenham next March to attempt back-to-back wins in the Tote Gold Cup, for which he is a best-priced 5-2 with Coral.

But in a race of changing fortunes, Best Mate's supporters experienced plenty of palpitations on their way to the payout queue. Travelling and jumping supremely well, Best Mate and McCoy hit the front at the fifth-last fence but were joined at the next by last year's winner Florida Pearl and suddenly the champion had to ask his mount for an effort. However, as Florida Pearl and Native Upmanship faded in the testing conditions, it was Marlborough and Bacchanal - Nicky Henderson's two challengers for the race - who emerged to do battle with the winner.

Approaching the final fence it seemed possible that either could get there but a slightly sticky jump by Marlborough gave the advantage back to Best Mate, who stayed on doggedly to win by one and a half lengths. There were a further four lengths back to early front-runner Bacchanal, with the trio a long way clear of Florida Pearl.

Winning trainer Knight, who admits that she finds the pressure of the big occasion hard to handle, opted instead to saddle Edredon Bleu to victory at Wincanton.

But her husband and able assistant Terry Biddlecombe was over the moon to be present to see Best Mate go one place better than he had achieved in the race 12 months earlier.