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Date Posted: 08:04:50 04/29/04 Thu
Author: Ryan
Subject: ºG...(¤º§t¤å³¹)
In reply to: ¥Õª÷Äq 's message, "¤µ¤Ñ¬O­^°ê°¨°é´d«sªº¤@¤Ñ¡A¦]¬°¦h¦~Ãø±o¤@¨£ªº­^¶¯¾Ô¦º¨F³õ¡A¥L¬O¡uªi´µ¤O¶q¡v~~~~" on 00:22:40 04/29/04 Thu

from sporting-life

RACING IN MOURNING FOR PUNCH
The racing world was in mourning on Wednesday after the tragic death of Persian Punch at Ascot.

The most popular Flat horse in training, whose durability and toughness were his trademarks, suffered a suspected heart attack in the final stages of the Bovis Homes Sagaro Stakes as he made his seasonal reappearance.

His death reduced many racegoers to tears and completely overshadowed the 18-length victory in the Group Three event of French raider Risk Seeker.

Having adopted his customary position at the head of affairs, Persian Punch weakened quickly when headed with half a mile to run and all but stopped to a walk inside the final two furlongs as Martin Dwyer eased him right down.

However, only 100 yards from the winning post, the gelding appeared to stagger, and he collapsed to the ground as Dwyer dismounted.

Trainer David Elsworth and owner Jeff Smith were immediately on the scene as vets fought to save Persian Punch's life.

But despite the collective will of everyone watching, both those stood around and those remaining in the granstands with their eyes glued to the temporary screens, nothing could be done.

Elsworth and Smith, accompanied by his wife Veronica, walked slowly back to the winner's enclosure wiping away tears.

A distraught Elsworth said: "He was the most wonderful horse to train. It's so very sad."

Svend Kold, Ascot's chief veterinary surgeon, explained: "He was beyond help by the time we reached him. I would think he had a major circulatory collapse which was possibly caused by the rupture of a major artery, probably a ruptured aorta.

"The way he staggered and went very pale so quickly suggests the rupture of a major blood vessel.

"We gave him adrenalin, steroids and pure oxygen, but he was beyond our help. The way he was losing his balance before he fell would suggest that he was already losing consciousness by then."

Kold said that the testing conditions may have played their part in the horse's death, but added: "It is not uncommon to see this kind of thing, but he was a fit and healthy horse and you cannot measure for it before a race.

"He was middle-aged by human standards but extremely fit, as he had showed so many times before today.

"As the owner said to me, he could have had another 10 years in a field, but nobody could have guessed that this sort of thing might happen."

In total, Persian Punch won 20 races and amassed a total of ?,008,785 in win and place prize money.

His brave front-running style earned him thousands of fans and he was voted Horse of the Year by Racing Post readers after a marvellous season in 2003.

He gained three memorable victories by a short head, culminating in what turned out be his final triumph in the Jockey Club Cup last October.

It was his third success in the Group Three contest at Newmarket.

As well as those three narrow wins last season, he galloped his rivals into the ground in the Group Two Doncaster Cup, scoring by seven lengths.

His other big-race successes included two Goodwood Cups (2001 and 2003) and the Henry II Stakes (1997, 1998 and 2000). He was unable to cap an illustrious career with a Group One win, but he did finish second in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot both in 2001 and last year. He was also third in two Melbourne Cups.

Understandably, connections were too upset to talk about the incident in its aftermath, but Frankie Dettori led the tributes from the weighing room.

"I was actually right behind and I saw the whole thing as it happened," he said. "I just froze.

"I am devastated, like everybody else. It is a disaster. I saw Martin in tears and I tried to cheer him up, but what can you say?

"He has been a great servant for the sport with his longevity and the fact that he never ran a bad race. He had that fire in him.

"He never knew when he was beat and people really respected that. It's a very sad day."

Some riders, including Kieren Fallon and Richard Quinn, took the opportunity to attack the Jockey Club guidelines which force riders to ride out their mounts to the line.

"It was an accident waiting to happen," said Fallon.

But trainer John Gosden said: "If he'd had the choice where to go then it would have been on the racecourse, like the old warrior he was."

And John Dunlop spoke of "a great battler who battled to the very end".

Several racegoers, some of whom had come especially to see their favourite horse, were clearly distraught.

Ascot's chief executive Douglas Erskine-Crum added: "It's hard to know what to say. It's just the saddest thing that could possibly have happened."

An announcement paying tribute to the horse was made at the track over the public address system as soon as his death had been confirmed.

"It was something pretty much unprecedented but a mark of the esteem in which Persian Punch was held by so many people," said the course's PR manager Nick Smith.

"We felt it appropriate to mark his achievements, as although he never won at Ascot, he was a regular visitor and we always knew that whenever he ran there would be people coming specifically to see him.

"Racegoers love to see a horse coming back for a battle year after year and that's exactly what they got with Persian Punch."

Julian Richmond-Watson, senior steward of the Jockey Club, hailed the achievements of Persian Punch during his distinguished racing career.

He said: "This a very sad conclusion to what has been a remarkable racing career from a remarkable horse. The fact that Persian Punch produced performances of outstanding merit season after season bears testiment to the care with which the horse was looked after.

"It also denotes a horse who thrived on being in training and able to race.

"He was a very special horse who captured the imagination of the racing public in a way that few Flat horses ever have. His renowned battling qualities thrilled the public time and again and his will to win helped him snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

"Our thoughts go out to Jeff Smith, David Elsworth and all those who looked after him."

Persian Punch featured on the British Horseracing Board's promotional literature for the film Seabiscuit last year, and marketing director Chris John added his own tribute.

He said: "A truly wonderful horse, Persian Punch personified the spirit and courage that makes racing great. Professionally, and personally, we'll all miss him terribly."

Goodwood managing director and clerk of the course Rod Fabricius was another to pay tribute.

"Persian Punch was one of the most popular horses of recent times and his two wins in the Goodwood Cup encompassed all that he was about - class and determination.

"His win last year was particularly memorable and not since Double Trigger's three wins in the same race have the crowd at Goodwood been so vocal in their appreciation of a supreme equine athlete."

Owner Smith said later: "It's just absolutely devastating - just a terrible day."

An emotional Dwyer told Radio 5 Live later: ``I am absolutely gutted. It's a real choker.

``He was running his normal kind of race and I was at him a long way out. Right until the end he was a fighter, because when Darryll Holland came and took it up turning into the straight and went by me, the old horse put his head down and went again, so I thought `right, here we go' and he battled on again.

``Then he started to shorten his stride and he wasn't right, so I stood up and stopped riding and pulled him up.''

Asked what his best ride on the gallant veteran was, Dwyer went on: ``That would have to be Goodwood (last summer's short-head victory in the Goodwood Cup). That was a great day and a great atmosphere. The old horse was at his very best that day.''

He added: ``I think everybody loved him because he was a fighter. He never knew when to give in. He was a great horse, even though he wasn't winning Group One races.

``He always did it the hard way, always fought back when he looked beat. He was such a brave horse. He is a great loss.

``He was the apple of David Elsworth's eye and he looked distraught, as I was, as well as Jeff Smith. He is a legend of a horse to me. I'll never forget him, that's for sure.''

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