There
have been many great horses that have achieved great racing honours.
Red Rum won the prestigious Grand National for three times and Best
Mate won the Cheltenham
Gold Cup three times as
well. Yet none of them could quite match the appeal of Arkle. Even
the people with no interest in racing would know his name and praise
his talents. His name still evokes many emotions among the Irish
people. Peter O'Sullevan, the famous racing commentator, called him
a freak of nature —
something unlikely to be seen again.
His jumping
was not perfect, still his imperfections only added to his magical
personality. His dominance was so complete in the race that the
racing authorities in Ireland at that time had to change the
handicapping rules because of him.
The Arkle
Challenge Trophy at Cheltenham Festival is named after him as a way
to pay tribute. The Cheltenham Festival is very near now which takes
place in the month of March every year. It is the best place for all
the punters. That is why a huge conversation is generating about the
prospects of different horses. Will the horses of Wille Mullins shine
on the field or will it be the horses of Nicky Henderson or Jessica
Harrington who will steal the show? These questions are being debated
with great intensity among the punters.
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After winning
the 1963 Broadway Chase, Arkle faced Mill House (the Cheltenham Gold
Cup winner) for the first time in the 1963 Hennessy Gold Cup, and he
lost that race against Mill House. However, Arkle took his revenge in
the Cheltenham Gold Cup of 1964 by beating Mill House by five
lengths. It was his first Gold Cup win and it was the last time he
was not featured as favourite for a race.
In the next
Gold Cup of 1965, he easily defeated Mill House by 20 lengths. And in
the 1966 Gold Cup, he grabbed another victory by an outstanding 30
lengths. In that race, he even made an early mistake but his momentum
remained steady and he got such a dominating victory. That season of
1965-66, the legendary Arkle remained unbeaten in 5 races.
In the
three years; Arkle
acheived such a huge racing honour for himself, winning a King George
VI Chase and 3 consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups. Besides these wins,
he also won the Hennessy Gold Cup, the Irish Grand National, the
Whitbread Gold Cup and the Gallagher Gold Cup.
Tragically,
Arkle got a serious injury during racing in the King George VI Chase
at Kempton Park. He hit the guard rail resulting in a fractured pedal
bone while jumping the open ditch. Even then, the legendary Arkle
completed the race and almost won by coming in second.
The injury
stopped him from running ever again, although he made enough recovery
to get back into training. He became hugely famous in Ireland. Even
at one point Arkle for President was written on a Dublin wall.
He was simply referred as "Himself".