The second race of the Cheltenham Festival is named after one of its most famous competitors, Arkle. Ran over exactly two miles of the Cheltenham course the Arkle requires both speed and high hurdling ability to compete well and the form book is often a good racing guide. Analysis of recent Arkle winners points towards entrants with a least three years over fences and coming to Cheltenham on the back of an impressive season. Shocks in the Arkle are few and far between and the betting market favourites usually perform well.

The fields for the Arkle tend to be smaller than most of the other horse races at Cheltenham, but what it lacks in numbers is more than equalled by quality. Strong Irish challenges are often present for this race but within the last ten years the form book leans heavily towards entrants trained by Martin Pipe.

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The 5/4 favourite Azertyuiop claimed the 2003 Cheltenham Festival Arkle in fantastic style, leading almost throughout the entire event. Following the early falls of a couple of the main dangers Azertyuiop was never troubled and put in a jumping display which if repeated in 2004 will almost certainly result in another Cheltenham winner. Although never in a position to seriously challenge the winner, the second placed horse Impek made a very good impression. Despite almost falling two fences from home Impek was able to outlast Isio in the final furlong.

Recent Arkle Results
Year	Horse	Trainer	Starting Price
2003	Azertyuiop	P Nicholls	5/4 Fav
2002	Moscow Flyer	J Harrington	11/2
2000	Tiutchev	M Pipe	8/1
1999	Flagship Uberalles	P Hobbs	11/1
1998	Champleve	M Pipe	13/2
1997	Or Royal	R Lee	11/2
1996	Ventana Canyon	E O´Grady	7/1

The feature event of the first day at Cheltenham is the third race - the Champion Hurdle.