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French gelding Heartbreak City has sadly been euthanised while in Europe after taking a fall and sustaining serious injuries during a trackwork ride in Ireland.
The seven-year-old ran an absolute thriller in the Melbourne Cup last year, finishing painfully close to winner Almandin by a nose to snag second place in one of his biggest races of a long career.
The Tony Martin-trained galloper was due to race next week and was out at the Curragh Racecourse getting in some strides for preparation when the incident happened.
A devastating shattered leg was too much for the gelding to overcome and he was taken away by the vet to be euthanised in unfortunate circumstances.
Darren Dance, a part of the Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock syndicate that part owns and runs the champion gelding says the loss is a heart-wrenching blow to the connections who have had a great relationship with him.
“It’s obviously not what you want to hear at 3am when I got the call,” he said.
“Tony (Martin) took him to The Curragh for a workout and he shattered the leg in the gallop and had to be put down.
“It’s just so tragic because he was such a lovely, quiet animal and he gave us so much joy over the spring.
“When you love horses, you feel it because they are part of the family.”
The son of Lando and Moscow Nights had snagged six wins across 23 starts from his career that dates back five years.
He was just starting to hit his straps as a late bloomer as well, picking up four of those career wins from five starts leading into the Melbourne Cup last November.
The biggest win of his career came in the Ebor Handicap in August of last year, breaking away on the final stretch to record a massive four-length win at the iconic York Racecourse.
There were plans from the connections and trainer Martin to have him come back for the Melbourne Cup again this year following the financial and track success of their first attempt.
His first win came as a three-year-old in his sixth start after some close place finishes and positive results, finally breaking through to take the Maiden at Chantilly over 2,000 metres in June of 2013.
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