St Nicholas
Abbey, winner of 6 Group 1 races and winner of nearly £5 million in prize
money, died on Tuesday morning following a 6-month battle with injury and
illness.
The champion
race horse was found to have an inoperable colic and was euthanised. Owners,
Coolmore said, ‘Regretfully, St Nicholas Abbey has lost his brave battle this
morning after suffering colic. Surgery revealed a severe strangulating colon
torsion that was un-viable and he had to be euthanised on humane grounds.’
Coolmore
went on to thank the surgeons, the international experts and all the staff at
Fethard Equine Hospital who had given him such excellent care, 24/7.
St Nicholas
Abbey's health problems began in July, when he fractured a pastern during a
routine piece of work at Ballydoyle. He underwent successful life-saving
surgery, during which 20 screws were inserted into his damaged leg, but
suffered a major colic setback following the operation.
That was one
of several crises to affect his recovery, which were well-documented through
regular press updates from Coolmore. The following month a weight-bearing steel
pin in his cannon bone was found to have broken, requiring further surgery to
remove it.
In October
he developed laminitis in the damaged limb, his left foreleg, an extremely
serious complication. Yet the most recent updates from his surgeons were
cautiously positive, praising St Nicholas Abbey's demeanour and reporting
progress in his recovery.
His first
top-tier victory came in the Racing Post Trophy in October 2009. He delivered
one of the most impressive performances in recent memory, beating Elusive
Pimpernel by almost four lengths and earning short-price quotes for the
following year's Derby.
St Nicholas
Abbey's final two races, in the spring and summer of 2013, saw him go one
better and win the Dubai Sheema Classic, before he sealed a stunning hat-trick
of Coronation Cup wins with an imperious defeat of Dunaden before a huge
Derby-day crowd on Epsom Downs.
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