LEGENDARY chaser Kauto Star has been put down after sustaining a neck injury and a complex fracture to the left side of his pelvis as the result of a fall in his paddock on Wednesday.

The Clive Smith-owned superstar was hospitalised and given intensive medical treatment at the Valley Equine Hospital in Upper Lambourn with the team working hard over the weekend to try and save his life but he was put down at 3pm on Monday, in the presence of Smith and veterinary assistant Hattie Lawrence, when his condition deteriorated.

 
Smith said: "I am devastated. He had been turned out in Laura's [Collett - rider] paddock, as has been done normally with him at this time for years, and he looks to have jumped something, and stumbled, we're not really sure, but he injured himself - and it became obvious it was serious.

"The vets made him comfortable but it became evident that it was serious, and the kindest thing was to euthanise him. It was a horrible moment. He was such a wonderful horse, but he did not suffer."

In her report detailing the injuries that resulted in the dual Gold Cup winner being put down, Lawrence wrote: "Three bones appear to have been fractured, the ilial shaft, tuber ischi and the greater trochanter of the femur.

"There also appears to have been a fracture to the spine at the base of the neck, probably between C6 and T2. This ultimately was the most significant injury as it produced the paralysis that made it impossible for him to stand.

"The secondary problems that contributed were pneumonia as a result of being cross tied and unable to put his head down, and laminitis which was the result of the toxins in his body and having to stand for so long."

The 15-year-old won 23 of his 41 races, including winning the King George five times and Cheltenham Gold Cup twice.

Bought from France by Smith and trained by Paul Nicholls, Kauto Star won 16 Grade 1s. His first victory at the highest level came in the 2005 Tingle Creek at Sandown, a race he won again the following year.

Kauto Star won his first King George at Kempton in 2006, winning every running through to 2011 bar the 2010 renewal at the course which bears his statue. There is also a statue of the great horse at Haydock, where he won four Betfair Chases between 2006 and 2011. His Gold Cup victories came in 2007 and 2009, when he became the first horse to reclaim the Gold Cup. 

Racing Post