Royal Ascot winner Strike The Tiger was one of three horses to die in a devastating barn fire.
The retired sprinter, trainer Wesley Ward's first winner at the prestigious summer meeting, was 15-years-old.
His success in the 2009 Windsor Castle Stakes started the American trainer's annual trips to the fixture.
Reports say the veteran horse died with two stablemates on Sunday after a lightning strike at Ward's stable in Lexington, Kentucky.
Ward told Horse Racing Nation that investigators from the Lexington Fire Department said lightning hit a service pole that fed into the barn, causing the blaze at around 12.50pm local time.
The tragedy comes a month after Ward had 12 Royal Ascot trophy boxes stolen from his home in Versailles, Kentucky.
He told the publication the fire was "100 times worse than losing those damn trophies, I'll tell you that."
After his racing days were over, Strike The Tiger returned to Ascot to accompany Ward's other runners.
The other two horses that were killed were Modesto, a winner at Keeneland and an unraced two-year-old by the sire Hootenanny.
Ward's 12 winners at Royal Ascot include Campanelle, who was awarded the 2021 Commonwealth Cup after a stewards' enquiry.
Strike The Tiger's success 13 years ago was followed up by Jealous Again in the Queen Mary – and the trainer has since regularly brought over juvenile horses to compete.
In February, Ward's trophies worth around £75,000 were taken in a break-in at his American home.
One of the collection was presented to him by The Queen, after Undrafted's 2015 Royal Ascot success in partnership with jockey Frankie Dettori.
Ward added that there has not been any new developments with regards to recovering the items.
