Cheltenham Racecourse

Cheltenham To Celebrate Arkle’s 50th Birthday

MEETING: April Meeting
DATE: Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th April
ADMISSION PRICES: Club/Tattersalls £20 (16-24 £15), Best Mate £7 - accompanied children under 16 FREE in all enclosures.
FIRST RACE : 2.20pm each day

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.