Kaya loss leaves you in awe of trainers - the odds are never in their favour

When a big yard loses an equine star, those of us intimately familiar with the fragile nature of these majestic athletic specimens tend to adopt a phlegmatic default response.

While never unsympathetic to any connections' loss, the tenor of our lament might be to remember that "it's outside the back door" or "what has life, must die".

That thoroughbreds exist so perilously close to the edge, due to a freakish anatomical constitution that seems to defy the norms of physics, is something you become conditioned to accept when you work with these 500kg musclebound powerhouses who can sustain their entire body weight on one spindly leg when galloping at full tilt.

However, when the trauma of a fatal injury befalls a talented beast that might genuinely be described as a once-in-a-lifetime prospect for those involved, it is hard to be quite as philosophical or stoic.

Lady Kaya (purple silks) chases Hermosa home in the 1,000 GuineasCredit: Mark Cranham

Lady Kaya's loss to Sheila and Joanne Lavery and her rider Robbie Colgan is so desperately galling that it is almost impossible to comprehend.

Sure, the usual caveat applies that you can replace a horse and not a human, but the hole left in their lives and yard right now is an utterly gut-wrenching chasm.

Three years ago, we rued the horrible fate Vautour endured, yet such are the resources of Willie Mullins and Rich Ricci that they have continued to farm jump racing's major events.

For the Lady Kaya team, what destiny has conspired to thieve from them will be that bit harder to replace. Watch the way the daughter of Dandy Man cruised through the 1,000 Guineas for three-quarters of the race and you will be reminded of just how much potential this filly had.

She travelled like a breeze and was the only one still on the bridle with two furlongs to run. When asked to go on, it immediately became clear the trip was not going to play to her strengths, but she boxed on gamely to still finish closer to Hermosa than anything else.

You could not but come away with the impression that here was a filly with the capacity to be a real player over shorter trips, and a Commonwealth Cup showdown with Ten Sovereigns was among the most eagerly anticipated clashes at Royal Ascot.

Having also finished second to Skitter Skatter in the Moyglare Stud Stakes and thrashed Pink Dogwood in a Curragh maiden, Lady Kaya’s consistent profile suggested she was at home in the highest echelon and not in the least bit flattered in the company she was keeping.

Robbie Colgan: propelled into the big-time thanks to Lady KayaCredit: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)

Moreover, the romance of her story, as a failed €15,000 pinhook by Joanne Lavery, the trainer's niece, had captured the imagination.

The tale of an unlikely owner, a small-scale trainer who only took out a licence at 52 years of age and a journeyman jump jockey turned accidental big-race Flat rider resonated far and wide.

As such, Lady Kaya's unfortunate demise on the Old Vic gallop marks a sorry end to a heartwarming tale.

It is a shuddering punctuation mark that leaves you wondering not just how much promise might have gone unfulfilled, but also in awe of how those at the coalface continue to invest so much of themselves when faced with such indiscriminate adversity. The odds are never in their favour.

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