1950: two-year-old season Arctic Prince first appeared on the racecourse in a
maiden race at
Redcar in which he recorded a six
length victory. He was then moved up in class for the
Gimcrack Stakes at
York in which he finished unplaced behind Cortil.
1951: three-year-old season As a three-year-old, Arctic Prince was sent directly to the
2000 Guineas at
Newmarket Racecourse without a trial race. He ran on strongly in the closing stages of the one mile
Classic to finish seventh of the twenty-seven runners behind
Ki Ming. A month later, Arctic Prince started at odds of
28/1 in a field of thirty-three for the Derby, which, with a total prize of £22,625 was the most valuable race ever run in England. He was ridden by
Chuck Spares, a jockey who was best known for his successes in
National Hunt racing and was having his first ride in the Derby. The crowd was estimated at up to 1,000,000 and included the
Queen, and
Princess Elizabeth, the
King being too ill to attend. Ki Ming who started favourite, disputed the lead with Mystery IX until the horses turned into the straight. Arctic Prince, who was always prominent, overtook Mystery IX to take the lead early in the straight and pulled clear of the field to win easily by six lengths from Sybil's Nephew. Spares explained that "I took the lead and then it was all over." Stephenson commented that Arctic Prince "was definitely unlucky to lose the 2000 Guineas and I thought that he would win today as I know that he stays." In July Arctic Prince was sent to Ascot for the inaugural running of the
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The colt finished unplaced behind Supreme Court, sustaining an injury which ended his racing career. ==Assessment==