'He changed our lives and touched everyone's hearts' - Kachy owner pays tribute

Owner David Lowe has paid a moving tribute to his ill-fated all-weather star Kachy, describing the seven-year-old sprinter as a horse who changed his family's life.

Trained by Tom Dascombe, Kachy was being readied for a defence of his All-Weather Sprint crown in April, with finals day planned to be his last appearance before retiring to stud. However, Kachy suffered a fatal injury at Lingfield on Saturday.

Lowe, who initially part-owned Kachy before buying him outright, on Sunday spoke fondly of the happiness the horse had given him over the years.

Kachy: a hugely popular all-weather performerCredit: Edward Whitaker

"He changed our lives, literally," said Lowe. "We had a 25 per cent share in him when we first bought him as a two-year-old. We fell in love with him and got quite a good offer from a breeding firm around the time he was five and the other partners wanted to sell him on to breed.

"I had other ideas, I wanted to buy him myself because I loved him so much and the family loved him so much.

"We bought him in November 2017 and decided to plot an all-weather campaign and go for the finals. He just went from strength to strength and the last two years have been a rollercoaster – we've been right at the top of the hill and now we are out at the bottom."

Lowe said he has been overwhelmed by the support shown by the racing community on social media.

"It's great that the people on Twitter took to him so much, I can't believe the messages I've had. He touched everyone's hearts.

Watch: Kachy doing what he did best at Lingfield

"We've always had loads of messages when he's won and, ironically, the grief has led to loads of people showing their love. There's been no negative messages at all, which is great. The feedback has been tremendous and I've been taken aback by it.

"I would just like to thank everybody for that – the outpouring of grief has really touched our hearts."

Owner David Lowe (far right) after Kachy's win in last year's Listed Cleves Stakes

Kachy was unbeaten in two starts as a juvenile, winning in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes, and subsequently added two Listed contests to his haul. He also finished second in the 2016 Commonwealth Cup and was third behind Blue Point in last season's Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He won nine of his 28 starts, including five on the all-weather, earning just over £470,000 in a six-year career.

Read more about Kachy . . .

Three of superstar sprinter Kachy's finest moments on the track

Star all-weather sprinter Kachy suffers fatal injury at Lingfield

Read The Lowdown from 8.30am daily on racingpost.com and the Racing Post mobile app with all the day's latest going, weather, market moves and non-runner news