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Joseph O'Brien team 'devastated' as Sir Erec suffers fatal injury in Triumph

Pentland Hills (Nico de Boinville) wins the Triumph Hurdle
Pentland Hills (Nico de Boinville) wins the Triumph HurdleCredit: Edward Whitaker

Pentland Hills gave trainer Nicky Henderson his seventh win in the JCB Triumph Hurdle but the race was overshadowed by the loss of Sir Erec, who suffered a fatal injury.

The Joseph O'Brien-trained favourite went wrong while tracking leader Quel Destin midway through the race.

O'Brien said: "We're all devastated. He had a stone bruise during the week and we were very open about that.

"He had a full set of x-rays done, high and low, and a full set of scans, two days ago. It was very obvious where the bruising was on his foot on the x-ray and he came perfectly sound the last couple of days.
"He did a trot-up this morning on concrete for the BHA inspections and passed that perfectly. Nothing was missed."

Henderson was rewarded for his bold decision to run Pentland Hills after just one start over hurdles at Plumpton in February.

The four-year-old survived a blunder at the first obstacle under Nico de Boinville before finishing three lengths clear of fellow 20-1 shot Coeur Sublime, with Gardens Of Babylon back in third.

De Boinville said: "His jumping is his main asset. Every time I gave him a little kick he came back on the steel. I didn't want to go to the front too soon. I got a nice jump at the last and he has cleared right away."

Henderson said: "He nearly fell at the first and I started to think perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to run him here but the rest of it was good."

"I was very impressed with him at Plumpton because he was professional and jumped very well. I thought we might as well have a day out because he knew enough to risk doing it.

"He's got a very long way to go before being a Champion Hurdle contender because it's his second start over obstacles, but we'll see."

The champion trainer added: "I'm sorry about Sir Erec – he was such a gorgeous horse."


This race report is being updated and more news will follow shortly.

Published on 15 March 2019inReports

Last updated 15:57, 15 March 2019

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