The brilliant nine-year-old also claimed top spot in the champion three-mile chaser category.

The accolade, which was presented by BHB chairman Peter Savill, was one of 12 to mark achievement over the 2003/4 season.

The equine awards were based on the official 2003/04 Anglo-Irish Classifications and were open to horses either trained in Britain or, if trained abroad, achieving the highest category rating on a British racecourse.

The horse of the year award was based on a combination of ratings and contribution to raising the profile of British racing, as judged by a BHB panel composed of Savill, chief executive Greg Nichols, marketing director Chris John and racing director Ruth Quinn.

Best Mate ended the season for the second year running with an official rating of 175, achieved when winning the Ericsson Chase at Punchestown last December, 1lb clear of joint-champion two-milers, Azertyuiop and Moscow Flyer.

Best Mate’s delighted owner Jim Lewis accepted both awards along with trainer Henrietta Knight, although he admitted to wishing he could have transferred one of the awards to another of his horses, Edredon Bleu, who finished the season unbeaten.

“I do feel a bit sorry for the old boy, but he knows that I love him,” Lewis said.

“He and Best Mate have given my wife and I the best days of our lives and we are living a dream.

“Maybe it will be someone else’s dream one day and I will be happy for them, but in the meantime I am on top of the world.

“The awards we have won today are down to Jim Culloty, who is a simply brilliant jockey. He might not win championships but he stands and walks with Tony McCoy in every respect every day.”

Britain’s champion owner, trainer, jockey and conditional rider were also recognised, those awards falling to David Johnson, Martin Pipe, McCoy and Jamie Moore respectively.

As usual, much of the interest at the ceremony stemmed from the decisions of the Anglo-Irish Classifications Panel over the official ratings given to the champions of last season.

Charged with deciding between the claims of Azertyuiop and Moscow Flyer for the two-mile division, the panel settled upon a draw, with BHB senior jumps handicapper Phil Smith explaining: “Mr Nicholls (Azertyuiop’s trainer) has already told me that it was a cop-out but how can you say for sure that one is better than the other?

“You could argue that as Moscow Flyer beat Flagship Uberalles by 11 lengths in the Tingle Creek and Azertyuiop beat him by an easy nine in the Queen Mother that they are almost the same on a line through that horse.

“And all of his subsequent form suggests that Azertyuiop wasn’t at his best in the Tingle Creek so it wouldn’t be fair to rate him as inferior on that form.

“If you look at different lines of form you can make a case for either of them, but the important thing is that we have two top-class horses and if they meet next season in ideal conditions then we can look forward to a fascinating race.”

Also attracting comment was the decision to make Hardy Eustace the top-rated hurdler at 170, 1lb above Rooster Booster, given the doubts over the form of some of the close-up horses at Cheltenham.

Rooster Booster was awarded 169 for his gallant short-head defeat in the Tote Gold Trophy, 1lb below the mark he was given for winning the Smurfit Champion Hurdle last year.

But handicapper Dave Dickinson explained that the decision over how to rate this year’s victory for Hardy Eustace had not been straightforward.

“At the time, Fota Island appeared to be holding the form back slightly and to give Hardy Eustace 170 it would mean that Westender had achieved a higher mark in coming fifth this year than he had done when earning 157 for coming second to Rooster Booster the previous year,” he said.

“But we were helped when Fota Island ran very well at Punchestown and Westender also ran well over two and a half miles at Aintree and suddenly the form started to look a lot more solid.

“In my opinion, Conor O’Dwyer didn’t get enough credit for what he did from the front at Cheltenham. He rode a fine waiting race.”

Dickinson’s Irish counterpart Noel O’Brien added: “He has met Rooster Booster twice this season and beaten him twice and for him to be the top-rated two-miler seems well-merited to me.”

The pair finished 7lb clear of next best Rigmarole, with Brave Inca the leading novice on 147.

Iris’s Gift edged out Baracouda by 1lb to be crowned top staying hurdler on 172, on the strength of his battling win in the bonusprint.com Stayers’ Hurdle.