An empty winner’s enclosure after the feature race was a miserable way to open Chester’s May Festival, after Charlie Appleby’s Hidden Law, who had just taken the Chester Vase by three lengths, had to be euthanised as the result of a serious injury suffered shortly after crossing the line in an incident that was also broadcast live on ITV4.
Appleby reported that Hidden Law had broken a fetlock after apparently taking a false step while William Buick, his rider, was pulling him up. “He fractured his leg, unfortunately,” Appleby said. “Passing the line was all OK but he’s just put in a false step after crossing the road.
