CRESTFALLEN jockey Gavin Sheehan said ‘we lost a friend’ after top horse Datsalrightgino sadly suffered a fatal injury at Cheltenham on Trials Day.
Jamie Snowden’s chaser was sent off 5-1 for the rearranged Clarence House but fell at the ninth fence.
Unfortunately the eight-year-old, who was mightily impressive when winning the Coral Gold Cup in December, could not be saved.
Sheehan, who is enjoying the season of his life, had some time to reflect on the awful loss over the weekend.
And he told Sky Sports Racing about how it felt the whole yard had lost ‘a friend’ as they came to terms with Datsalrightgino’s death.
Sheehan, who won the King George on Hewick on Boxing Day, said: “You think this is a horse that could take us to the Grand National, to the Gold Cup.
“He gave me one of my best days in racing.
“There were so many dreams still there. It was a very sad day.
“It’s very hard for everybody, for the owners, trainers, family, staff and everybody who looked after him.
“We lost a friend and a very good horse. He’ll be sadly missed.”
Datsalrightgino was travelling well until suffering the only fall of his 20-race career.
The death was particularly painful coming just 35 minutes after Sheehan and Snowden tasted a satisfying victory in the Paddy Power Handicap with Ga Law.
Snowden told ITV Racing: “The highs are the highs and the lows are the lows in this sport.
“I’m gutted for the Glyn-Davies family [owners], who have put a lot of time, effort and money into it.
“We all love horses, it’s the reason we do it.
“So it’s incredibly hard, but you’ve got to remember the good times and we had many good times with him.”
