For how long have we been habitually taking down and dusting our thesaurus at this time of the year for a suitable adjective to describe Arkle?
The three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner of the 1960s is regularly described as "great" and "legendary" or even by some as "peerless".
Such phrases have been used to describe Arkle ever since he hobbled away after breaking a pedal bone following his second place in the King George VI Chase in December 1966.
Just short of his 10th birthday, the amazing career of Arkle, that included 27 victories in just over five seasons, had come to an abrupt end.
On his official retirement in 1968, Arkle was rated capable of successfully conceding three stone in a handicap to that season's Gold Cup winner, Fort Leney. Surely there would never be another Arkle.
Subsequently, horses like L'Escargot, Captain Christy, Burrough Hill Lad, Dawn Run and Desert Orchid have all, at some stage, been talked up as young pretenders to his throne.
None ultimately passed muster partly because only L'Escargot tasted Gold Cup glory more than once, in 1970 and 1971.
And then along came Best Mate, the odds-on favourite to emulate Arkle and win steeplechasing's only "classic" for a third time.
Talk of comparisons have come in thick and fast, but those that have witnessed both at the closest quarters see little common ground.
Jim Dreaper, son of Tom, Arkle's trainer at Greenogue stables in County Dublin, told me: "The thing is the handicaps.
"It was not just Arkle beating everything put up against him at level weights, like in the Gold Cup, but he could do it with a lot more weight on his back too.
"It's hard to imagine Best Mate carrying 12st 7lb, or more over varied distances, and winning."
 Best Mate is hoping for a hat-trick of Cheltenham wins |
William Robinson, jockey of Arkle's great rival, Mill House, added: "Best Mate would just not be in the same field as Arkle. Arkle was out of his world" Best Mate's trainer Henrietta Knight is inclined to agree, despite the hype surrounding her horse.
"Matey is obviously very good, but I think that he still has things to prove, notably giving weight away, and perhaps one day he will run in, say, the Betfred Gold Cup at Sandown," she said.
Knight's husband, the ex-champion jockey Terry Biddlecombe, is not so sure.
"Our horse is the best around at the moment, and the opposition is much stronger now than it was back in those days. I think they are closer than some people think," he added.
My feeling is that for the time being there is not enough evidence to back Best Mate.
A third Gold Cup and the gathering of more evidence, particularly in handicap races, could easily change all that.
Roll on March 18th and let's take it from there.
MMIX
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