'He enlivened our lives' - Cheltenham Festival winner Imperial Aura retired

Kim Bailey has announced the retirement of stable stalwart Imperial Aura, after the nine-year-old broke a blood vessel when running at Haydock last month.

A winner in seven of his 17 races, Imperial Aura was in his pomp from 2019 to the end of 2020, during which time he won on four occasions, including the Listed Northern Trust Company Novices' Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2020 under David Bass.

His form tailed off after he unseated Bass at Kempton in January 2021, after which Bailey detailed, via his blog, that "he was never the same horse".

Bailey said: "It is something he did last season and although we have looked at all sorts of ways to try to help him we have not succeeded, and the last thing any of us, including his loyal band of owners, wanted to do was to keep trying and putting the poor chap through stress while doing so.

"Imperial Aura gave us one of our best days racing when winning at the Cheltenham Festival, and the following season he was majestic at Carlisle and Ascot."

Imperial Aura will head to Ireland to enjoy his retirement, with Bailey describing him as "a magnificent animal who will always be fondly remembered".

He added: "He enlivened the lives of all those who either owned, trained, looked after, rode or just backed him. Lauren Jack looked after him during his time here and just loved him."

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