Alan King 'blown away' by support received following death of stable star Trueshan

Alan King has been “blown away” by the reaction to Trueshan’s death in the Goodwood Cup on Tuesday, saying the volume of messages he and his team had received showed “there are a lot of kind people out there”.

Trueshan was euthanised after fracturing a near hind pastern in the Goodwood Cup, with jockey Hollie Doyle saying she was “devastated” at the sudden loss of a “special, special horse”.

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Trueshan, Doyle and King enjoyed a number of notable successes across the horse’s eight-year career, including winning the 2021 Goodwood Cup, 2022 Northumberland Plate and the Prix du Cadran in 2021 and 2023.

“I’ve been blown away by the messages this morning and last night,” King said on Wednesday. “I think I’ve had over 200 of them and there are a lot of kind people out there. It meant a lot to me and the team here at Barbury that he touched a lot of people.”

King, who has overseen the careers of top-class jumps horses such as Voy Por Ustedes, Walkon, My Way De Solzen, Edwardstone and Katchit, put Trueshan’s longevity down to both the mindful approach to where he was raced and the horse’s mental and physical robustness.

He said: “He was a very tough horse, and a very sound horse. He didn’t miss a day of exercise at home really and we were careful not to run him on quick ground as he didn’t perform on it. He was a kind horse too.

“He was never an outstanding work horse but he always worked to a consistently good level and you could just keep him simmering away, so he was easy to deal with. 

“We minded him. Everyone knows there were a number of times we took him to the races and didn’t run because there wasn’t any rain, or rain to a sufficient level to allow him to run.”

Trueshan: will be buried at Barbury Castle Credit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

While King had claimed top-level success over jumps, prior to Trueshan’s arrival at his Barbury Castle stables he had not done so on the Flat. As such, the trainer nominated Trueshan’s win in the 2021 Goodwood Cup as a particularly fond memory.

“The first time I realised he was a pretty good horse was his last race as a three-year-old when he beat Hamish at Newbury,” he said. “I decided that day I wasn’t going to risk him over hurdles and would keep him on the Flat and he gave us some wonderful days.

“When he won the Goodwood Cup, which was my first Group 1 in England, it was very special but he was a wonderful racehorse. 

“He’s coming back to Barbury too. We have a graveyard here so he’s going to be with Viking Flagship, Balder Succes and Katchit, which is where he should be.”

King also praised the vets attending to Trueshan at Goodwood having raced to see his stable star as he was being assessed before he was then put down.

“It was comforting to be able to see him – I had to be there at that moment and I wanted to see him,” King said. “Mark White, my travelling head lad, was with him very quickly and he was brilliant. I also have to say the veterinary team were superb. They did it all quietly and very professionally. 

“It was nobody's fault, I thought the ground was in wonderful condition and it was just an unfortunate thing that happens sometimes in racing.”

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