Cheltenham To Celebrate Arkle's 50th Birthday

Cheltenham Racecourse today announced that it will be celebrating the ?birthday' of champion racehorse and three-time Gold Cup winner, Arkle, during its forthcoming meeting on 18th and 19th April.

'Arkle was born at Ballymacoll Stud in Ireland on 19th April, 1957, and, given his unique place in Jump racing's history and his wonderful record at Cheltenham, it is a happy coincidence that we are racing on the 50th anniversary of his birth,' said Andy Clifton, Cheltenham's Communications Manager.

'His first Gold Cup encounter with defending champion Mill House in 1964 was truly one of the races of the 20th century. Such was the anticipation on both sides of the Irish Sea that the racecourse management even had to move the race to a Saturday for the first (and only) time, to make sure that as many people as possible could watch the race on the BBC!'

Racegoers will be invited to assemble around the Arkle statue at 1.30pm and raise a glass to the memory of the horse. There are a number of vouchers being distributed locally to allow 500 racegoers on the day to claim a pint of Guinness for only 8p - the price it was 50 years ago.

Arkle ran 35 times, winning 27 of his races.

He was owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster and trained by Tom Dreaper in Ireland. Pat Taaffe rode him in all 26 of his races over fences, winning 22 of them.

Arkle ran six times at Cheltenham as follows:

• 17th November 1962 - Honeybourne Chase, 2m 4f; Won by 20 lengths, SP 11/8 Fav
• 12th March 1963 - Broadway Chase, 3m;
  Won by 20 lengths, SP 4/9 Fav
• 7th March 1964 - Gold Cup, 3m 2f 130yds;
  Won by 5 lengths from Mill House, SP 7/4 2nd Fav
• 12th December 1964 - Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup, 2m 5f;
  Finished 3rd beaten 1 length and a short head by Flying Wild (who carried 10st 6lb) and Buona Notte (who carried 10st 12lb). Arkle carried 12st 10lb, SP 8/11 Fav
• 11th March 1965 -Gold Cup, 3m 2f 76yds;
  Won by 30 lengths from Mill House, SP 30/100 Fav
• 17th March 1966 - Gold Cup, 3m 2f 76yds;
  Won by 30 lengths from Dormant, SP 1/10 Fav