While away, my one contact with the outer world was a schoolmaster, Jack Sweetman. It was fortunate because the headmaster at the school wouldn't have had the highest opinion of horse racing and the people involved, but Sweetman made sure I was aware of what was happening at home.

His first Cheltenham victory came in the Royal & SunAlliance Chase but it was the 1964 Gold Cup that springs to everyone's mind when they think of Arkle. Only two horses entered such was the talent and it had been built up to such an extent with the whole England-versus-Ireland, Mill House-versus-Arkle scenario.

I watched it on a grainy, blackand-white television in Slane of all places because the one in school was only allowed to operate when something like War and Peace was on.

The following year he easily won the Gold Cup and, by that stage, here at home, myself and my sisters had become very conscious that something special was happening because there were so many people calling, wanting to see where the horse was stabled. It was 1966 when I came home though and maybe that was a jinx. The first time I went to see him race in England, I went with my mother the day he got hurt in Kempton. He injured a front leg and, from being well clear and going well, you could see he was struggling.

He got caught in the run-in and I wouldn't say there was great panic, but there was extreme concern. I remember the Kempton people were a huge help. And they had to be because he stayed there for months as he couldn't be moved.

Nobody knew that was going to be it, because people were working on him and he came back into training two years later. But he was a shadow of himself and my father would never have wanted to run him after that and it was decided, along with the owner, that it would be the end of an era. He was doing the work but you were only getting 70 per cent of what used to be there. It wasn't worth going on.

But looking back on it all, people forget one thing about the Gold Cups. The horses don't have to deal with a handicap and that's why his best performances were never at Cheltenham. The Gold Cups were some of his easiest wins and, sure, it was the main race, but he was level weights with everything.

But the Irish National, trying to give over three stone to Height Of Fashion, and the day he got just beaten by a length when carrying 12 10 at Cheltenham, they were the real performances. They were the real heroics.

Nobody can know what made him so great. He was very ordinary to begin with.

He was never tried in too many but he could not win a bumper. He just improved and improved. Of course he played to his audience which created this aura. There were the slogans of 'Arkle for president', there was the mail coming in bundles addressed to 'Himself, Ireland'. It was an amazing time but it would have been much more difficult to handle now because the public and the press are much more in your face. He would be built up much more.

I dare say there have been horses in the system since that have been as good but, for one reason or another, they didn't stay lucky, they didn't stay sound. For example, when he was here there was a horse in the yard that was arguably better. Flying Bolt. He won a race at Cheltenham on a Tuesday and he was third in the Champion Hurdle the next day. Unfortunately he developed brucellosis.

But we will of course see another horse like Arkle. At the moment there's probably not one of that class.

Kauto Star is the best and when people are talking about this year's Gold Cup they should remember Arkle made a ferocious mistake the last time he won it. He absolutely walked through a fence. But if there's one, there can be another, and it's why everyone keeps spending all this money.

Jim Dreaper is a trainer and son of Tom Dreaper who trained Arkle In conversation with Ewan MacKenna