At the Arkle Bookshop in Cheltenham racecourse, not much of the merchandise has anything to do with Arkle.
Best Mate books and Best Mate posters dominate the shelves these days, and they were selling briskly yesterday after the modern superstar won his third Gold Cup.
But the legend of his predecessor had lost little in the process, and a steady stream of race-goers was still stopping at the statue beside the shop to have pictures taken.
Among them was Michael Mullen, who works the turnstiles at Roscommon Racecourse, and posed in front of the bronze horse with his daughter Irene and sons Brian and Donal.
Like many others, Michael had backed Best Mate yesterday, "just to be on" for the historic victory. But he was old enough to remember Arkle in his prime, and nodding over his shoulder, said: "This fella's still the king."
For those not old enough to remember, the giant screen at Cheltenham relayed black and white pictures of the Gold Cups of 1964-66, the last of which Arkle won in a canter by 30 lengths.
The comparison with the 2004 event was stark, as Best Mate battled up the hill in the mud, a mere half a length clear.
He still got a hero's welcome, however, and the Irish were cheering as loudly as the English when Kerryman Jim Culloty held up three fingers - as Charlie Swan once did on Istabraq - as he headed back to the winners' enclosure. The result inflicted some serious pain on the Cheltenham bookies, and not before time.
Facing huge pay-outs at the start of the week if the holders of the big four races all retained their titles, the bookmakers had earlier made it three wins out of three when Baracouda joined Rooster Booster and Moscow Flyer in biting the dust. J.P. McManus took his defeat philosophically, hugging jockey Thierry Doumen back in the parade ring and remarking that the score was now "one-all" with Iris's Gift, the horse that had reversed placings with Baracouda from last year.
But it was too late for most punters to secure a draw, never mind a win. A meeting that began so excitingly for the Irish fizzled out in the rain on the last day. But then, maybe we expect too much. Four wins was as much as most experts had predicted.
On top of that, of the 10 horses in the Gold Cup, nine were bred in Ireland, as were eight of the jockeys. Best Mate himself still speaks with a strong Irish accent, four years after he emigrated to Britain.