Sir Gino’s trainer in tears on TV after iconic horse suffers grim injury at Cheltenham | Racing | Sport
Sir Gino’s trainer, Nicky Henderson, was in tears in an ITV interview after the iconic horse suffered a suspected pelvis injury at Cheltenham. The six-year-old bay gelding was the favourite in the four-runner Unibet Hurdle but pulled up midway through after jumping the sixth hurdle. Sir Gino only returned to action in the Christmas Hurdle after an infection in his leg forced him to take a year out and put his career at risk. He has now been transported to an equine hospital via horse ambulance.
A statement released by the Jockey Club read: “In our sixth race of the day, Sir Gino was quickly pulled up and was dismounted. He was immediately attended to by our expert veterinary team where he was assessed on course. Sir Gino has walked onto the horse ambulance to go back to the stables for further assessment.”
Henderson, speaking to ITV, declared “it’s not good” but added “everybody’s fighting”. The British trainer, 75, confirmed Sir Gino is suspected to have fractured his pelvis and added that the fracture is in his high hind.
Henderson told the broadcaster: “They were able to put him into the ambulance. It is his right hind. It appears to be high up. There are no lower limb fractures, but it appears to be a pelvic injury at the moment. They would rather take him to Three Counties Equine Hospital, without unloading here, where they can assess the scans and just see where we are.
“Pelvic injuries can be little ones and big ones. We have just got to keep everything crossed. We won’t know anymore while we are here. The time to assess him is where he is going
“It will be late on I suspect before we hear anything. We have been lucky enough to have a lot of good horses, but we’ve not had many like him, I can tell you that. He is special.”
The incident overshadowed the race and caused a sombre atmosphere at Cheltenham. Jockey Harry Skelton, who rode race-winner The New Lion, said: “At the top of the hill. The first thing all three of us said was, ‘Where’s Nico [de Boinville]?’ You don’t want that to happen and hopefully they are okay.”
While The New Lion’s trainer Dan Skelton said: “Hopefully Sir Gino is ok. I’m a big fan of horse racing, and we just hope he is ok – the team at Seven Barrows have been through a really tough time.”
Sir Gino had been the ante-post market leader for the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle but it is now unclear whether he will be able to compete at the Festival in March.
