Latest news with #Arkle
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
The Scottish amateur theatre directors retiring after 30 years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... They were two friends who set out to change the face of amateur theatre at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the 1990s. Now the directors of theatre production company Arkle are to retire after 30 straight years of Fringe performances. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Rob McKean and Michael Mulligan are to close the company with a final swansong of two shows - selected by each of them as their former Fringe favourites - at this year's festival. The pair set up the organisation in 1996 after meeting at another local club, Edinburgh People's Theatre. Mr McKean said: 'Arkle started as the result of a couple of bottles of wine in a cottage in the north-west Highlands. We'd both been involved in Edinburgh People's Theatre and back then, there was a set way of doing shows. It was box sets, it was two acts and we realised that we wanted to do something different, we didn't want to do shows in a set format. 'Also we wanted to do it without a committee and a club around it. Back then, people could only act for one club. There was no crossover, that's changed now. So we thought we'd try to do something simple for the Fringe - a short show and see how it went.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Their first show was Womerang, by Sue Townsend. 'It was great and people asked us 'what are you doing next year?',' Mr McKean said. Rob McKean (centre) and Michael Mulligan (right) with the cast from last year's Fringe show. | Rob Shields 'So we did. All of that was 29 years ago. This is our 30th on the Fringe. Even during Covid, we did some radio-style productions on Zoom, so we didn't miss a year. But after 30 years of doing it, it is time to stop.' Mr Mulligan added: 'Rob retired last year and I turned 70 in March of this year. These are factors which made us think it was time to stop after 30 years. Seventy is not the same as 40. A lot of people don't appreciate the sheer amount of work that goes on to do this. Also, it is getting staggeringly expensive. I see the future as a lot of what I call 'pop-up theatre'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He added: 'But the time to finish something is when you're still enjoying it.' Arkle's 2010 production of a Midsummer Night's Dream. | Arkle The company's second show was A Midsummer Night's Dream, which they are to reprise this year, alongside The 39 Steps, as their final performances. 'We've done what we set out to do,' said Mr McKean. 'Amateur theatre - we prefer to call it unpaid, as we have always tried to do professional level productions - has changed a lot over the last 30 years. There's a lot more crossover between the clubs, we help each other. All of that has developed. Mr Mulligan also runs the Royal Scots Club on Abercromby Place as a venue during the Fringe, both for Arkle and for other amateur clubs putting on shows. He plans to continue to do so next year.
Irish Daily Mirror
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
'He would have won six Gold Cups' - the story of Arkle's death 55 years on
Paddy Woods could still recall the moment clearly. He was enjoying a holiday with his wife Phyllis in London for the 1970 Derby at Epsom when he was stopped in his tracks by a newspaper seller. A pleasant stroll after lunch along the River Thames was interrupted with shocking news as he stared in disbelief at the headline on the front page; 'Arkle is dead'! 55 years ago, the greatest and most iconic horse of all-time, Arkle, took his last breath. Severely painful arthritis in his feet had been plaguing him for some time and on May 31, 1970 the agonising decision was made by his owner Anne Duchess of Westminster, his former jockey Pat Taaffe and vet Maxie Cosgrove to put him down. Arkle's magnificent career had ended three and a half years earlier in December, 1966, when he fractured his pedal bone while jumping a fence in a surprise defeat at the King George in Kempton. Ironically, on that London visit, one of the first things Paddy did was visit Kempton and renew acquaintanceship with friends he had made when looking after Arkle during the weeks of veterinary care. 'I couldn't believe it. We had just been talking to the lads in Kempton that morning. I'd made a lot of friends there when they looked after him and I said I couldn't come to London without seeing them,' said the late Paddy in a 2020 interview with the Irish Mirror. 'We stopped for a cup of tea after lunch and there was a paper shop there and I saw the headline. He died the night before. It was a big shock,' recalled Woods, who rode Arkle out every morning during his brilliant career, also winning a race on him at Gowran Park in 1962. Arkle had finished a stricken second to Dormant in that King George on December 27, 1966. It was a dank and misty afternoon and very few saw it happen as the race was not covered by the BBC. There's no TV footage anywhere but for Woods, who sadly passed away aged 93 in April 2024, the memories were vivid during that 2020 conversation. 'I was there the day he got hurt, not only that I was there for two weeks afterwards too. He was there for six or seven weeks but I couldn't stay any longer. I'd a young family at the time. 'I had gone over with Arkle to the race, myself and Johnny Lumley (Arkle's stable lad). The race had been put off on St Stephen's Day because of frost and we were furious because we thought they could have raced. We definitely would have raced in Ireland. 'Myself and Johnny walked the track afterwards and noticed he'd taken a lump out of the toe bar at the ditch past the stands. The vets said that's what definitely did it. 'They X-rayed him and confirmed the break. I remember Johnny innocently asking them if it would put him out of the Gold Cup in March. I said 'It will put him out of this year's Gold Cup and next year's too.' 'It was disappointing because he'd have definitely won the 1967 Gold Cup. It was a really bad race. He'd have won a fifth the following year too as Dreaper's won it with Fort Leny, a horse much inferior to Arkle. Johnny reckons he'd have won six Gold Cups.' Arkle was a chasing superstar in the 1960s and his fame in these islands equaled that of The Beatles and Mohammed Ali. He won 27 of his 35 races, including three Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1964, '65 and '66, while his astonishing weight-carrying feats in races like the Irish Grand National, Hennessy Gold Cup and Leopardstown Chase are still the stuff of legend. He was trained by Tom Dreaper in Greenogue, a small townland around two miles outside of Ashbourne in county Meath, and for four seasons his brilliance and personality transcended the sport while his battles with Mill House began the Irish-English rivalry which made the Cheltenham Festival what it is today. He's still the highest rated steeplechaser of all-time, an awe-inspiring animal so far ahead of the rest that a different handicapping system had to be used when he raced. After several attempts to get him back on the racecourse, Arkle was officially retired in 1968, and had moved back to his owner the Duchess of Westminster's farm at Bryanstown, near Maynooth in Kildare. Pat Taaffe had called in to visit his old partner with his daughter Olive, fussing over him with apples and treats, but noticed all was not well with the 13-year-old when he went to close the stable door. 'I had to move him back a foot and when I did, he almost fell. I realised that it was only courage and pride now keeping him on his feet,' Taaffe poignantly recalled in his book My Life and Arkle's. He immediately called the vet and the Duchess, and a decision was reached that evening. One of Maxie Cosgrove's partners in his Lucan clinic, James Kavanagh, walked to the back of his car and filled the syringe. Arkle would have felt nothing, it could have been a routine injection, and the greatest steeplechaser the racing world has ever known passed away peacefully. Woods still recalls his first experiences with Arkle, adding: 'He just came to be my ride out. I didn't think that much of him at first, he was just another horse. Then one morning I was riding him out on the gallop and I thought, 'He's going to be great.' 'I rode Arkle every day. He was very good at home. 'Mr Dreaper was a brilliant man. He was a genius; no one knows how good he was. He was a great man to work for too.' Woods got to ride Arkle in 1963 at Gowran Park in a hurdle race when the stable jockey Pat Taaffe couldn't do the weight of 10st5lbs. 'I thought I should have ridden him first time out but Pat (Taaffe) was riding Liam McLoughlin's horse Kerforo, and the boss man was fair and gave the ride to Liam. 'The day in Gowran we were running in because Johnny Lumley had a tip or something. I was going in with him and as soon as I set foot in the place the boss man grabbed me and said, 'get your colours on, you're riding Arkle'. 'It was a good race. He was beaten twice before that but was favourite. Going past the stands I was pushing and kicking and thought I had no chance. I thought he was done. He was gone. 'I got serious three out, and gave him a few slaps down the shoulder. I asked for a big one, we took off in fourth and landed in the lead. I never heard another horse until we pulled up.' Arkle was a huge celebrity in the 1960's - the Dreaper's even having to hire a secretary, Mrs Tinsley, to reply to all the fan mail he would receive, some just addressed to 'Arkle, Ireland'. Dominic Behan wrote a song about him and he even appeared on the Late Late Show with Gay Byrne. Visitors to the yard would have been regular but Woods remembers one occasion when two musical superstars of that era, Dickie Rock and Butch Moore, came to see Arkle. "Ah the two of them got up on him all right. It was a funny sight. Dickie wore his winkle pickers. 'I was friends with Butch and I remember being at a show with Roly Daniels some years afterwards and Roly was talking about horses,' recalls Woods. Country singer Daniels had an interest in horses and owned Hazy Dawn, a mare that gave WIllie Mullins his first Cheltenham Festival success in the 1982 National Hunt Chase. Daniels famously celebrated by singing Danny Boy in the winners' enclosure. 'Roly was telling us about his horses and Butch butted in and said: 'What are ya talking about, sure I rode Arkle, didn't I Paddy.' It was very funny.' Woods also remembered a huge security alert one time. 'Mrs Dreaper answered the phone to the British Police warning her that a pair of dopers, masquerading as a couple with the female an attractive blonde, had caught the ferry to Ireland.' 'Would ya believe as she looked out the window to the front gates, there was the couple getting out of their car. Paddy Murray (head lad) stopped them and quickly gave them gate.' Murray was another key member of the Arkle team, famously mixing two bottles of Guinness into his nightly feed called 'the mash.' 'Guinness would deliver bottles of beer to the yard every week for Arkle. We'd a bit of bother keeping some of the lads away from them though,' recalled Woods, who never drank. 'I was disappointed though when we were putting up the statue in Ashbourne a few years ago. Lynsey Dreaper wrote to Diageo but they said no, they weren't interested in giving us anything towards it. They got plenty of mileage out of Arkle with all the photographs.' Woods returned to London with Arkle in 1969 for the Horse of the year show at Wembley. 'It was a great week. Everything was paid for. I'd actually left Dreaper's at that stage but they asked me to go over with him and Pat. He was stabled about half an hour away on a big estate. He seemed as good as ever. 'In the nightly parade at the show there was a well-known cockney fruit seller, a famous fella in London or something, with a donkey and cart. Arkle loved sweets; he could smell in a pocket from three yards away. 'On the last night we decided to have a bit of craic. A tune was played for every horse and for Arkle it was, 'There'll Never Be Another You' by Nat King Cole. The cart man stopped in front of me and I let Arkle have a look at it, I let the reins loose and he nosed the back of the cart, and started scoffing like a child. 'He ate a big hamper of fruit and he got a huge applause; it brought the house down.' Speculation had been rife the previous year in 1968 that Arkle would race again. A special race was arranged at Fairyhouse for his comeback but his fate was sealed when Dreaper took him to Naas to school over hurdles with stablemate Splash. After they had jumped the hurdles Taaffe walked him over to Dreaper who asked: 'All right Pat?' The reply came: 'No, sir.' 'When do you think he will be right?' 'I think he will never be right, sir.' Taaffe died in 1992 at just 62, having had Ireland's second ever heart transplant the previous year. That Wembley trip was to be his final outing but Woods revealed that the Duchess decided to give Arkle one more chance to prove himself before resigning herself to his retirement. 'The Duchess asked me to meet her in the yard one of the mornings. She asked me to put the saddle and bridle on him and give him a spin. All the locals were out taking photographs and everything. 'We did about a mile and a quarter and he worked great and felt absolutely marvellous. I said 'you'll have to put this fella back in training, that's as good as ever he was'. 'We did the same thing the following morning but he took a lame step and that was it. Her vet had told her that might happen and if it did, he was finished for good.' Arkle's story continued even after his death. He was buried on the Duchess' farm in Bryanstown but in 1976 after the land was sold it was feared his grave could vanish if developed for houses. A museum at the Irish National Stud was being started and a controversial idea was forged to display Arkle's skeleton as a centrepiece - where it still is displayed to this day. The Duchess took some persuading and the project was not short of controversy with Arkle's breeder Alison Baker abhorring the idea - only accepting an invitation to meet the Queen in 2011 on condition she didn't have to see Arkle's remains. Paddy met the Queen too that morning, 'she was just like one of us, I couldn't believe it. She said to me 'it must have been very exciting to ride him.' I said it was great, sure a child would have ridden him. ' Paddy and his wife Phyllis, who passed away in January 2020, stayed on for the Derby in 1970 and witnessed another equine superstar Nijinsky power to victory at Epsom in one of the race's greatest ever performances. Himself would surely have approved.
The Herald Scotland
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Majborough makes amends with ease at Punchestown
The Willie Mullins-trained five-year-old was sent off at 4-11 to reward those who kept the faith back on home soil and while he pulled his way to the front on the second circuit and raced keenly throughout under Mark Walsh, he stamped his class from the home turn, pulling 14 lengths clear of the Arkle runner-up Only By Night. Mullins, saddling his 200th winner of the season in Ireland, said 'He jumped today like we know he can jump. For some reason things didn't go right for him in Cheltenham, but he's redeemed himself today. 'He's a huge, big horse but he's very light framed and is an athlete every time you look at him. Looking at him in the parade ring today, there wasn't one ounce of spare flesh on him, and I couldn't have galloped him one more time. 'He's only five and hopefully he'll mature this summer. I'm looking forward to what he could mature into over the next 18 months or two years. 'What he did there you are looking at the Champion Chase, but he has enough pedigree to stay a trip.'
The Herald Scotland
28-04-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Marine Nationale and Fact To File all set for Punchestown showdown
Having missed the majority of his novice chase season, Connell, who owns and trains Marine Nationale, has been playing catch up in terms of experience, but he now appears to be reaching his peak. 'He didn't have much of a blow after the race. I think he was the easiest winner of the whole week and he's come out of the race in super shape,' said O'Connell, for whom the victory was an emotional one with the late Michael O'Sullivan having ridden Marine Nationale to Supreme Novices' Hurdle glory in 2023. Marine Nationale's Cheltenham Festival victory proved an emotional one (Andrew Matthews/PA) 'He hasn't had an over-taxing season really. We've been building up to the spring festivals so we're looking forward to him going to Punchestown. Hopefully we get the usual nice spring ground, which will suit him well. 'The big thing with him was that he came into the season basically still a novice, lacking a lot of experience, and he was being pitched in against battle-hardened chasers and it's a difficult thing to do, particularly in the two-mile division, where jumping accuracy is so important. 'He kicked off low key in Naas. That was a big stepping stone. His two runs at Leopardstown were really good. He jumped well and as he usually does when he goes to Cheltenham, he comes alive, loves the place. It was all building towards getting the experience and fitness and everything came together at Cheltenham. 'His jumping was exemplary and it took him into the race without any great effort. And then the usual thing he does, when he jumps the last at Cheltenham, he just takes off. We couldn't be happier with him now.' Fact To File was impressive at Cheltenham (Mike Egerton/PA) Fact To File looked the real deal in the Ryanair and showed so much pace Mullins is happy to drop down to two miles with him. It will, though, be the first time Fact To File has raced over the minimum trip since he was beaten in the Cheltenham bumper in 2023. 'It's a bit of an unknown dropping back in trip, but Willie is happy with him and he's in good form,' said Frank Berry, owner JP McManus' racing manager. 'We're looking forward to seeing him and it should be a good race. He can jump at speed and he will be taking on the Champion Chase winner and it will be a great race – we hope for the best.' While only six go to post they also include a previous Champion Chase winner in Captain Guinness, dual Grade One scorer Solness and 2023 Arkle winner El Fabiolo. Kopek Des Bordes is still unbeaten (Mike Egerton/PA) Mullins dominates the other Grade Ones on the card. He fields four of the six in the KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle, with Supreme winner Kopek Des Bordes meeting stablemate Salvator Mundi again. In the Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase, he is responsible for five of the nine. Ballyburn, Champ Kiely, Ile Atlantique, Impaire Et Passe and Brown Advisory winner Lecky Watson come up against the Henry de Bromhead pair of Gorgeous Tom and Slade Steel. Polly Gundry's Don't Rightly Know is the sole UK runner in the Grade Ones on the opening day.
RTÉ News
27-04-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Patrick Mullins eyes unprecedented British hat-trick for master of Closutton
Patrick Mullins was left to ponder if his father Willie Mullins could win the British trainers' title for a third time after proudly watching him emulate the great Vincent O'Brien at Sandown on Saturday. The master of Closutton became the first Irish-based handler to claim the UK jumps crown in over 70 years when topping the British table for the first time 12 months ago and he followed in the footsteps of O'Brien by edging out Dan Skelton to lift the trophy for a second year running. However, no Irish-based trainer has won the title on three occasions. It was Patrick's emotional Grand National victory aboard his father's Nick Rockett that proved the catalyst for the Mullins juggernaut invading Britain over the subsequent three weeks to spoil the Skelton party. And having written his own chapter in the annals of the decorated Mullins dynasty at Aintree, the heir to the Closutton throne was soaking up all the emotion and celebration of another special day for his family at the Esher track. "To do it last year and exorcise the ghost of losing to Paul Nicholls was great, but to do it again and emulate Vincent is special," said Patrick Mullins. "I hope we could maybe go and beat Vincent now, but it won't be easy as Dan is getting bigger and better every year. "Willie definitely appreciates what he has achieved. He knows the history of the sport and talking back to Vincent O'Brien and the likes of Tom Dreaper (trainer of Arkle), for him to put his name alongside those is the ultimate." Paul Townend also paid tribute to his long-time boss, with the Closutton number one hailing the efforts of the whole operation back in County Carlow and those who put in the hard yards which allow him so many highlight-reel moments on the big stage. Townend said: "I can't really say any more about Willie that hasn't been said before and I'm just one of the lucky ones who gets to be on the team. "It's a big team and it's shown how much the owners back Willie – the second this was on, they backed him. You want to be on the team, not trying to beat it. "It's a phenomenal effort from Willie, Jackie (Mullins, wife) and Patrick, down to David Casey and all the team – and a lot of them don't get the credit they deserve either. When we come over for these glory days, they're back at home riding out the other horses. It's a huge team effort."
