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‘A massive loss to everyone here’: Top racehorse put down after stable injury

Gemma Redrup Gemma Redrup

    • Superstar Flat racehorse Snowfall has been put down after she sustained an injury in her stable at home in Ballydoyle, Ireland.

    The four-year-old filly clocked up a remarkable three Oaks victories during her career, earning her connections £885,696 in prize money. She was owned by Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier and Michael Tabor and most memorably won the 2021 Epsom Oaks by 16 lengths under Frankie Dettori, which was a record-breaking winning margin.

    Her trainer Aidan O’Brien said: “We are very sorry to report that our wonderful filly Snowfall sustained a serious injury a few weeks ago. Despite the best care and attention from our veterinary team and from our team in here in Ballydoyle her condition seriously deteriorated a couple of days ago and we were left with no choice but to take the heartbreaking decision to have her put to sleep.

    “She damaged her pelvis. She was fed at lunchtime by one of the lads and when he went back to her an hour later she was lame in the box. Our vet John Halley thinks that she did the splits in the box and injured her pelvis, but obviously we don’t know exactly how it happened.

    “We did everything we could for her but it wasn’t to be. She is a massive loss to everyone here, from a racing and breeding perspective – she was such a high-class mare.”

    Snowfall went on to win the Curragh and York Oaks equivalents and she finished sixth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before running her final race when third in the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot in October.

    Racehorse Snowfall was bred in the purple; by Deep Impact, out of a Galileo mare called Best In The World, who is a sister of Found. Found clocked over £5m in prize money for the same connections as Snowball, including winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2016, plus the 2015 Breeders’ Cup.

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    Gemma Redrup
    Gemma Redrup

    H&H features, racing and point-to-point editor
    Gemma is an experienced journalist, having been part of the H&H team since 2014, who is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at in August 2018. Gemma’s reporting talents have taken her to numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.
    Gemma Redrup

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