- Abuffalosoldier died shortly after winning the Holland Cooper Handicap Chase
- Two other horses also died at Cheltenham on a tragic day for racing on Sunday
It has been my privilege to be a sports broadcaster for 25 years but I can’t recall a more difficult day than Sunday at Cheltenham.
Abuffalosoldier had just galloped around Prestbury Park with his ears pricked and jumped 22 fences like a gazelle, winning the Holland Cooper Handicap Chase for trainer Warren Greatrex in the most wonderful manner.
But as my colleague Alice Plunkett interviewed jockey Sean Bowen, Abuffalosoldier collapsed live on air. You may have heard me use the term ‘trapdoor to despair’ about National Hunt racing and here, without warning, it had crashed open again, taking us all into the darkness. This, personally, was as tough as it gets but it was nothing like as tough as it was for poor Esme Cook, who was Abuffalosoldier’s lass and devoted her life to him. She’d brought her pride and joy to the races but was confronted with the prospect of driving home an empty horsebox.
Esme will be grieving this loss and so will the horse’s owners.
Another runner in the race — Bangers And Cash, trained by Ben Pauling — had also collapsed and died before the 14th fence. And to compound matters, in the following event — the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle — we lost Napper Tandy, trained by Matthew J Smith. All the way home, all I could do was think about the horses, the people involved and how their hearts had been broken.
From the joy of Saturday, which featured Sir Alex Ferguson showing he can still win with kids (18-year-old jockey Freddie Gingell partnering Il Ridoto in the Paddy Power Gold Cup), Sunday was overwhelmingly sombre.
Abuffalosoldier pictured clearing the last fence in Sunday’s Holland Cooper Handicap Chase
Shortly after winning the race at Cheltenham, Abuffalosoldier tragically collapsed and died
The tragic incident on Sunday afternoon left ITV Racing’s punditry team shocked and shaken
Reflecting on Abuffalosoldier, I could only draw a comparison with Many Clouds, the 2016 Grand National winner, who died during one of our first broadcasts in January 2017. One moment, Many Clouds had been having the time of his life, thrilling the crowd. The next he was gone.
Inevitably, it led to some fierce reaction and it has been hard to read and hear. There are so many people who will never like jump racing — they are entitled to their views — but there is an awful lot of hyperbole about horse welfare and racing.
Yes, it is a dangerous sport and we cannot remove the risk but, as dual Grand National winning-trainer Lucinda Russell always explains so eloquently, the racecourse is the safest placefor ALL participants to be.
I love jump racing. I love it as much as I did 48 hours ago, for all that what we witnessed was deeply upsetting. Because 99.58 per cent of runners in jump races return safe and sound.
And thanks to people such as Esme Cook, I’m confident these beautiful animals have the most amazing life.
