Arkle.
Arkle was one of the most famous racehorses in irish history.
he came from a family of winning racehorses.
His first victory at Cheltenham was in the Broadway Chase and it gave the first sight of what was to come as he won by a breathtaking twenty lengths. he then went on to win the Cheltnam gold cup three times, the kind georges VI chase, 4 other gold cup races, the grand national and many more important races.
He won the 1965 gallagher gold cup and broke the previous record by 17 seconds!
In December 1966 Arkle raced in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park but struck the guard rail with a hoof when jumping the open ditch, he got a fractured pedal bone, despite this he completed the race and finished second. He was in plaster for 4 months and though he made a good enough recovery to go back into training he never ran again. He was retired and ridden as a hack by his owner and then succumbed to what has been variously described as advanced arthritis, or possibly brucellosis, and was put down at the early age of 13.
Arkle became a national legend in Ireland. His strength was jokingly claimed to come from drinking Guinness twice a day. At one point the slogan Arkle for President was written on a wall in Dublin.
he came from a family of winning racehorses.
His first victory at Cheltenham was in the Broadway Chase and it gave the first sight of what was to come as he won by a breathtaking twenty lengths. he then went on to win the Cheltnam gold cup three times, the kind georges VI chase, 4 other gold cup races, the grand national and many more important races.
He won the 1965 gallagher gold cup and broke the previous record by 17 seconds!
In December 1966 Arkle raced in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park but struck the guard rail with a hoof when jumping the open ditch, he got a fractured pedal bone, despite this he completed the race and finished second. He was in plaster for 4 months and though he made a good enough recovery to go back into training he never ran again. He was retired and ridden as a hack by his owner and then succumbed to what has been variously described as advanced arthritis, or possibly brucellosis, and was put down at the early age of 13.
Arkle became a national legend in Ireland. His strength was jokingly claimed to come from drinking Guinness twice a day. At one point the slogan Arkle for President was written on a wall in Dublin.
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