Major Philip Arkwright

Major Philip Arkwright

Article by Chris Pitt

It’s funny how some things stick with you – and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Until recently I was convinced that the first race I remembered watching on TV was the 1961 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, in which the French challenger Right Royal beat the previous year’s Derby winner St Paddy, with Rockavon third and Apostle last of the four runners. But no, the form book proved me wrong. It was a less prestigious four-horse affair that preceded the ‘King George’ by five months.

I knew for certain that the four runners were Saffron Tartan, Carraroe, Jack’s The Boy and Lyonstar, and that Saffron Tartan started favourite but fell. I couldn’t have told you where or when it was. It was easy enough to find the race in the form book. A quick trawl through showed it to be the Gainsborough Chase  at Sandown on Saturday, February 11, 1961. It revealed that Saffron Tartan fell when leading at the first of the Railway fences, six from home, and with Lyonstar departing two out, the second favourite Carraroe was able to take the lead on the run-in and go on to record a fairly straightforward length-and-a-half victory from the only other finisher, 33/1 outsider Jack’s The Boy.

Jack’s The Boy was ridden that day by Major Philip Arkwright. They went on to win the Past and Present Handicap Chase at Sandown’s Grand Military meeting in March, and the Abergavenny Challenge Cup Handicap Chase at Plumpton on Easter Monday. Two years later, in March 1963, Philip won a Newbury novices’ chase on the Fulke Walwyn-trained Monarch’s Thought and then finished second on him in the Grand Military Gold Cup. He also finished fifth in the race on Ardent Venturer in 1964 and on Monarch’s Thought in 1965.

Major Philip Walter Frank Arkwright served as an officer in the Royal Dragoons, then attained the rank of Major in the Blues and Royals. He rode winners while serving abroad and was down to a 5lb claim when registering his next victory on British soil, owning, training and riding his near-white hunter chaser Another to score at Ludlow on March 4, 1971. He won on him again at Stratford (right) the following week. They won two more hunter chases together, at Nottingham in 1972 and Stratford in 1973.

Having left the army and retired from race riding, he became Cheltenham’s clerk of the course, a post he held from late 1976 until presiding over his last National Festival in 2000 when. Jockey Club regulations stipulated that he had to retire having reached the age of 65.

As clerk of the course he was the one who stood his ground on that famous day in 1987 when a fall of snow looked like causing the Cheltenham Gold Cup to be abandoned. The runners had reached the start before being sent back to the parade ring as by then the course was unraceable. The stewards were all for abandoning racing but Philip was determined to play for time, knowing how quickly the picture could change at that time of year. The sun was shining seven miles north in Tewkesbury and, sure enough, the snow soon stopped and the sun came out and began to melt it. History shows that the 1987 Gold Cup was eventually run 81 minutes later than scheduled.

Reflecting on that occasion, he says: “I tend to look back in my dotage and think of this day as my finest hour, but if that was the case maybe I should keep quiet about it because I must have had 23 years’ worth of pretty moderate hours!”

Major Philip Arkwright died in May 2025, aged 85.

Major Philip Arkwright’s British winners under N.H. rules were:

1. Jack’s The Boy, Sandown Park, March 18, 1961

2. Jack’s The Boy, Plumpton, April 3, 1961

3. Monarch’s Thought, Newbury, March 8, 1963

4. Another, Ludlow, March 4, 1971

5. Another, Stratford-on-Avon, March 11, 1971

6. Another, Nottingham, March 21, 1972

7. Another, Stratford-on-Avon, March 8, 1973