Horse of the Day - ARKLE 🇮🇪
Arkle was a class apart, he won 27 of his 35 starts, including 22 wins from 26 steeplechases, and he was placed in the other 4 races with mitigating circumstances for each defeat.
Was he the Greatest Steeplechaser ever? 🤔
🏆🏆🏆- Cheltenham Gold Cups (1964, 1965, 1966)
🏆🏆- Hennessy Gold Cups (1964 and 1965)
🏆- King George VI Chase (1965)
🏆- Irish Grand National (1964)
🏆- Gallaher Gold Cup (1965)
🏆- Whitbread Gold Cup (1965)
He carried more than 12th in weight in 14 of his races and won at distances from 1m 6f on the Flat up to 3m 5f over fences.
His superiority was such that handicapping procedures had to be altered to accommodate his dominance. Arkle was so good that he caused the rules to be changed - how many participants in any sport can claim that? But he was much more than a sensationally good racehorse. In an age when television coverage was rapidly increasing the popularity of steeple chasing
, Arkle was the first horse who truly became a public figure, an equine god who took his place alongside the Beatles, Jackie Kennedy and El Cordobes in popularity polls.
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