One of the greatest racehorses of all time, at least within the National Hunt ranks, was the brilliant Arkle.
Arkle was foaled on April 19th, 1957, a bay gelding who was simply the latest racehorse at the time to prove that so much talent is in the blood. Arkle was a grandson of Nearco, a great Flat horse who was unbeaten in 14 races.
Among other great achievements, Arkle won no fewer than three Gold Cups at Cheltenham and may have added to that had he not been retired due to injury.
He is the highest rated steeplechaser of all time, which is probably why his skeleton was preserved and put on display at the Irish National Stud.
Arkle’s Pedigree
Arkle was by Archive, himself a very well-bred type by Nearco however Archive himself was no great shakes on the track. His stud fee was only 48 guineas, only around £1000 in 2022. He was out of Bright Cherry who had been better in her racing career, scoring seven times over jumps.
Arkle was foaled at the still famous Ballymacoll Stud in Ireland in 1957.
Never seen as a future stallion and with a jumping career in mind, he was gelded when he was only a yearling.
| Sire/Dam | Grand Sire/Dam | Great Grand Sire/Dam |
|---|---|---|
| Archive | Nearco | Pharos |
| Nogara | ||
| Book Law | Buchan | |
| Popingaol | ||
| Bright Cherry | Knight of the Garter | Son-In-Law |
| Castelline | ||
| Greenogue Princess | My Prince | |
| Cherry Branch II |
Racing Career
By the summer of 1960 he was still an unnamed gelding. At that point as a three-year-old, he was sent off to the Goff’s Bloodstock Sales in Dublin. There, Tom Dreaper snapped him up for 1,150 guineas, around 20,000gns now.
The purchase was on behalf of the Duchess of Westminster who named him Arkle after the mountain which could be seen from her estate in Scotland. Despite being sent initially to Cheshire, Arkle returned to Ireland to be trained by Dreaper.
By the summer of 1960 he was still an unnamed gelding. At that point as a three-year-old, he was sent off to the Goff’s Bloodstock Sales in Dublin. There, Tom Dreaper snapped him up for 1,150 guineas, around 20,000gns now.
The purchase was on behalf of the Duchess of Westminster who named him Arkle after the mountain which could be seen from her estate in Scotland. Despite being sent initially to Cheshire, Arkle returned to Ireland to be trained by Dreaper.
Arkle’s debut was in an amateur riders’ bumper race at Mullingar on December 9th, 1961. He was third of 17 that day. His first run over obstacles was in January 1962, three-mile novice hurdle at Navan which he won under Liam McLoughlin as first-choice rider Pat Taaffe had chosen another horse.
From that point, Arkle never looked back. He carried on hurdling in 1962/63 before going chasing later on. He went on to win many top-class races, the highlights being:
| Year | Race |
|---|---|
| 1963 | Punchestown Gold Cup |
| 1963 | Powers Gold Cup |
| 1964 | Cheltenham Gold Cup |
| 1964 | Irish Grand National |
| 1964 | Hennessy Gold Cup |
| 1964 | Leopardstown Chase |
| 1965 | Cheltenham Gold Cup |
| 1965 | King George VI Chase |
| 1965 | Hennessy Gold Cup |
| 1965 | Leopardstown Chase |
| 1965 | Whitbread Gold Cup |
| 1965 | Gallaher Gold Cup |
| 1966 | Cheltenham Gold Cup |
| 1966 | Leopardstown Chase |
| 1966 | SGB Handicap Chase |
This is quite a list considering it spans only a few seasons.
Winning three Gold Cups is one thing, but being able to win at Cheltenham, do the same on flatter tracks at Leopardstown and Kempton (King George) and winning handicaps under big weights is a very rare feat indeed.
Earnings
Over the course of his career, Arkle won a total of £95,198 in win and place prize money.
In 2022, this would be circa £1.44 million. That’s a good amount of money considering that prize levels have tended to be lower over the jumps than on the Flat.
The Arkle Chase
Arkle’s honours have been numerous; from having his image on a postage stamp in Ireland to having a song and a book written about him and entering the Steeplechasing Hall of Fame in 1994.
Only the very best horses have good races named after them though.
Arkle does have the Arkle Novice Chase at Leopardstown named in his honour, but the Arkle Challenge Trophy at Cheltenham is one of the most important races of the entire National Hunt season and is an even bigger honour.
‘The Arkle’, as we know it simply, is the number one novices’ chase of the year for two-milers. It is run on day one of the Cheltenham Festival every year in March.
Arkle winners have included Flyingbolt, Flagship Uberalles, Moscow Flyer, Sprinter Sacre, Altior and Shishkin.
Connections
A beautiful looking colt, Arkle was a bay with no white markings of any kind who was bred by Mary Baker. She kept a handful of mares on her farm at Malahow in County Dublin.
As mentioned above, having been bought at the sales Arkle was owned during his racing career by the Duchess of Westminster, Anne Grosvenor. She named him after the mountain in Sutherland which was close to her Scottish estate.
For that racing career Arkle was trained by the man who bought him at the sales, Tom Dreaper.
Dreaper trained at Greenogue in Kilsallaghan in County Meath, a place that gave its name to Greenlogue Princess, the maternal grandmother of Arkle. Dreaper also went on to train Flyingbolt, winner of what is now the Arkle Challenge Trophy at Cheltenham.
Although he passed on riding him first time up in favour of a mount on the odds-on favourite, popular jockey and future trainer Pat Taaffe was Arkle’s regular rider over fences.