Cheltenham Festival 2019: Hot favourite Sir Erec suffers injury live on ITV in Triumph Hurdle as Pentland Hills lands the prize
HOT Triumph Hurdle favourite Sir Erec had to be put down after suffering a terrible injury during the Triumph Hurdle as Pentland Hills landed the spoils.
The race was marred by the incident that took place half-way round the Grade 1 contest with viewers left clearly upset following the incident.
Sir Erec, ridden by Mark Walsh, was well-placed when he pulled up after jumping a fence and it was clear the injury was serious.
The drama started before the race even got underway, though.
Sir Erec lost his shoe on his front-right leg on the way up to the starting flag, causing a delay.
Scott Mason the farrier got to work, with four-year-old Sir Erec defying his age as he remained incredibly calm throughout the process.
The bookmakers did not stretch his heavy-favourite odds much, with the horse seemingly unaffected.
Trainer Joseph O'Brien said: "Far from ideal but he is a relaxed horse and seems to have taken it well."
But then the 70,000 in attendance and millions watching on TV were left stunned when Sir Erec got injured.
He struggled and panicked before coming down and the horse ambulance was quickly on the scene.
But ITV Racing's Ed Chamberlain confirmed the news most feared – that unfortunately Sir Erec had to be put down.Racing legend AP McCoy said he was "heartbroken".
Of course, the race had to go on and Nico de Boinville guided Pentland Hills to victory, setting off at 20/1.
Although it could have been very different after Pentland Hills made a big error at the first jump and almost threw his jockey out of the saddle.
But there was a very sombre atmosphere after the race with subdued celebrations following the shocking injury.
De Boinville said: "You never like to win a race when that has happened but it is the reality of the sport.
"Thoughts are with Sir Erec's connections.
"But take nothing away from my horse. He made a bad error at the first where he over-jumped it and recovered well after that."
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Pentland Hills' trainer Nicky Henderson added: "What a gorgeous horse Sir Erec was. Your heart goes out to them.
"We're all a family and JP [McManus] is a big part of our team. He's one of the great men of national hunt racing. That was not fair at all."
David Sykes of the BHA told ITV that Sir Erec was checked over pre-race by a vet. “There was no evidence of lameness or injuries. There was no reason to predict that injury today."
He also added that the change in shoe and the injury were not directly related.
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