Three horses have died after sustaining injuries in separate incidents during Kempton Park’s Lanzarote Hurdle card.
Grade One-winning Kalif Du Berlais fell and unseated jockey Harry Cobden in the closing stages of the four-runner Silviniaco Conti Chase. The six-year-old, who was part-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, sustained a broken shoulder and could not be treated by the on-course veterinary team.
Trainer Paul Nicholls described the loss as “a big kick in the teeth” and a “sad day”, adding that the horse had been “travelling beautifully” and that connections had “a lot of faith” he could progress further.
Also on the card, Wertpol suffered a fatal fall in the juvenile hurdle, while Peso pulled up with an injury in the Shaker Handicap Chase. Both horses were attended to by the veterinary team but were unable to be saved.
A spokesperson for Kempton Park said: “All of us at Kempton Park care deeply about the welfare of all racehorses, as do the thousands of racing staff who provide them with world-class levels of care at home every day. Our heartfelt condolences are with the connections of all three horses.”
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said it will analyse each incident in detail through its fatality review process, adding: “At this stage there does not appear to be any common factor that can be attributed to these incidents, with each of the injuries different in nature and sustained in unique circumstances.”
Jockey Harry Derham, who rode Wertpol, wrote on X that it had been “an utterly miserable day” and described the three-year-old as “a bright talent who was fresh and happy doing his work every day, often playing around and expressing himself”, adding: “Racing can at times be a painful sport and today has been a tough day for a number of connections. A day to forget.”
