Bred by Georges Wegliszewski, he was out of the mare Amour Celtique, a daughter of American horse Northfields, winner of the Hawthorne and Louisiana Derbys.
Sent to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky for the 1994 Breeders' Cup Turf, Celtic Arms was part of one of the strongest international fields in the 1½ mile event's history.
In a race run in track-record time, he was ridden by Kent Desormeaux and up against winner Tikkanen plus other notable runners such as Fraise, Hatoof, Paradise Creek, Volochine, and Raintrap.
Making his second appearance in that year's Breeders Cup Turf, held in 1995 at Belmont Park, under jockey Gary Stevens Celtic Arms started from the far outside in post position thirteen.
In 1996, Celtic Arms won the G-1 Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Turf Stakes for what would turn out to be the last win for 36-year-old trainer Rodney Rash, who died from a rare blood disorder a few days later on March 1, 1996.