OTTB: Arkhill

Arkhill’s name in racing history will always be associated with the end of racing at Calgary’s Stampede Park. It was on June 14, 2008 that Arkhill won that track’s big event, the $125,000 Alberta Derby, by a length under Rickey Walcott over Papa Time. That afternoon was the final day of thoroughbred racing at Stampede.

Arkhill, a British Columbia-bred son of Orchid Devil, was racing for his breeder Neville Davis at the time. The Alberta Derby was his first stakes attempt and he passed it with flying colours. In fact, the gelding won seven of his first nine races at ages two and three while in the care of trainer Craig MacPherson.

The bay gelding followed up his Alberta Derby victory with a win in the Ky Alta Stakes and a fourth-place finish in the B.C. Derby.

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Arkhill gave signs early that he was going to be a good one on the track. According to New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society, Arkhill was “smaller in stature for your average young horse [but] he has led the way with his spirit and speed since his days as a foal. Smart, keen and strong, Arkhill was first introduced to the track by rider Virginia Janes and after their first ride together, she distinctly remembers saying to [Davis] ‘This is one of the smartest two-year olds I’ve ever sat on. When he breaks from the gate, he’s going to know what he’s doing.’”

An injury would cause Arkhill to miss the entire 2009 racing season, however, and the brave gelding, although still a fighter, was not as good as he was as a younger horse. He won 10 more races at claiming levels from $50,000 down to $5,000 before he was retired in 2015.

The gelding arrived in the New Stride program located in Abbotsford, B.C., and began the process of being ‘let down’ from the racing life and re-trained as a riding horse at Shannon Stables.

“Arkhill has a heart of gold and will try anything you ask him to,” said Mary Nolan from Shannon Stables. “He is playful, always has an engine, a great sense of humour, and a beautiful natural outline.”

Arkhill found a new home when adopted by Kathy Stephenson from Langley. A very experienced, skilled trainer of dressage horses, Stephenson and the big dark bay gelding are well on their way to getting to know one another.

From an eight-year career on the racetrack to learning new, and slower, gaits, Arkhill has impressed everyone who has worked around him. MacPherson, a longtime leading trainer at Hastings Park in B.C., continues to follow the exploits of the gelding off the track.

“He’s the kind of horse that you rarely get the chance to be around in your life, talented and giving,” said MacPherson. “But he’s also a player who keeps reminding you who the star of the show is. Hopefully he winds up being just as much of a star in his new quest.”