DJ.....usually I would agree with such a comment,however,in Arkle's case that particular performance had to be seen to be believed AND he was conceding 16 pounds to the greatest English steeplechaser ever,Mill House,and beat him out of sight !
The greatest ever English Steeplechaser? Get a grip man.
Arkle's 212 is laughable do you really believe he was stones better than every chaser since? It is from that 212 that Mill House's 191 was in relation to.
Kauto Star was rated 193 without Arkle boosting him. There's been dozens as good as Mill House.
Mill House was a schoolyard bully and very good against inferior animals. When he won his Gold Cup he was beating Tom Dreaper's Fortria who was an 11 year old at the time and lost the speed that won him races like the QMCC twice and the Makeson Gold Cup. Most reckoned he never got the Cheltenham trip and he was beaten the year before by Mandarin when he led for along time before his stamina gave way.
Later in life when he met good horses like What A Myth he never looked so great when the Ryan Price horse at the age of 10 ran him to a neck off levels and the Laird getting only a pound beat him. Sure he had back problems during his career but until Arkle came on the scene there was nothing but old crocks around to take on Mill House.
He was good in his day but the greatest English chasers of all time? no way.
The day Arkle won the Gallacher Gold Cup he was awesome no doubting it, but it was Mill House who previously held the Sandown record.
I think it was when he went off at 1/7 to beat Out and About who was a pretty ordinary chaser of Ryan Prices. Mill House basically hacked round and the time he beat was set in a race for untried 24 year old brood mares:lol: The press made a huge thing about it but really it was no big deal as Arkle was just as awesome in his other races around that time and never knocked 17 seconds of any of those records.
Lets not forget Mill House ran well below his best when he failed to give 10 lbs to Rondetto who finished 4 lengths in front of him that day.
It's one thing being an Arkle fan, I loved the horse to bits we all did at the time but one should take a reality check and remember that there was no centralized handicapping sytem at the time and the handicapper would say one thing one day and change his mind a week later to be able to fit horses in.......it really was a shocking mess and the 212 today looks just plain stupid
Look at what it actually means. Forget the trip but if Arkle were alive and on Sunday the race were a handicap he'd have to give Sprinter Sacre 43lbs (3st1lb) :blink: