Cheltenham viewers were left horrified as two horses died after taking part in the same race on Sunday afternoon in the Holland Cooper Handicap Chase.
Abuffalosoldier, a seven-year-old ridden by Sean Bowen, had produced an impressive run to win the race, though the horse later collapsed moments after crossing the line while Bowen was still giving an interview.
Another horse, Bangers And Cash, sadly also passed away after suffering an injury during the race. Though the exact details of the incident are unclear, Cheltenham racecourse authorities confirmed that both deaths were due to “cardiac failure”, reports Metro.
“The winner of our fourth race, Abuffalosoldier, collapsed after the line and was immediately attended by expert veterinary professionals, but sadly could not be saved,” said a statement from the racecourse. “Our heartfelt condolences are with his connections.
“Bangers And Cash was immediately attended to by our expert veterinary team but sadly sustained a fatal injury.”
A third horse, Napper Tandy, died in the next race of the day, in the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle.
The British Horseracing Authority issued a statement on the deaths, saying that the losses “are a tragedy for all connections”.
“All three were provided with outstanding care and attention throughout their lives by those who cared for them and nobody will be more heartbroken tonight than those individuals.
“As with all fatalities, we will seek to understand the circumstances behind each incident as we strive to continue to reduce avoidable risk in our sport.
The statement added that “the overall fatal injury rate in Jump racing is 0.42% of runners.”
The chief vet at the racecourse, Liam Kearns, said that Abuffalosoldier “jumped everything fantastically well, he was full of running up to the finish but he collapsed shortly after the last and sadly died very quickly.
“This was a cardiovascular collapse, it could be a heart attack it could be a major artery, we won’t know until the post mortem is done,” he added.
“In the welfare situation, all these horses are thoroughly checked over at home, they won’t come to the races if their connections aren’t happy with them.
“They are checked on arrival at the races, the vets team check them over when they get here. There are vets dotted around the course keeping an eye on them.
“But in a highly athletic activity like this there is an unfortunate risk of this happening and we will try to mitigate it, but we cannot remove all risk.”
