http://www.attheraces.com/article.a...ed Flame&ref=PA Racing Feed&nav=&sub=&day=Sun John Quinn's top-class dual-purpose performer Countrywide Flame has been retired after being found to be suffering from a degenerative bone disease. Winner of the Triumph Hurdle and the Fighting Fifth in 2012, the five-year-old went on to run a superb race to finish third behind Hurricane Fly in last season's Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Also runner-up in last year's Cesarewitch and fifth on his last run in the Chester Cup, Countrywide Flame was ruled out for the jumps season in October with a leg injury, but further deterioration has led to connections drawing stumps altogether. Quinn said: "Unfortunately he's got bone degeneration in his two hind joints and while we can keep him comfortable, there's no coming back from that I'm afraid. "The initial injury wasn't coming right as fast as we expected, so we looked into it and investigated it further and this came up, unfortunately. "He's been a horse and a half." Sad news- hopefully they can treat him well and let him have a comfortable, happy retirement. Tough as old boots, especially for a horse so young, and a real game winner of a Triumph hurdle at 33/1. Best wishes to him and connections
One of those horses I had an irrational dislike of. When he won the Triumph, I stood to win a very tidy sum on Grumeti and therefore disliked Countrywide Flame for beating "my boy" (the fact that Hisaabaat beat Grumeti into 3rd never seemed to bother me ). At Aintree I backed Countrywide Flame and guess what? Yep, Grumeti turned the tables on him . To add insult to injury I backed Cinders And Ashes (whatever happened to him btw?) in the Fighting Fifth later that year and he was a no-show behind Countrywide Flame, who stormed home by 12 lengths. If you look at his runs behind the likes of Darlan, Hurricane Fly and Rock On Ruby he is clearly a very decent animal, bit one which I could never catch right. Nevertheless I wish him a long and happy retirement
Very sad news. I was a big fan of this horse and remain convinced there was plenty of improvement left in him. He never earned me much dough but I loved his battling attitude and there was a moment ( ok maybe a millisecond) in the Champion Hurdle when O'Regan appeared to angle him out to make a challenge up the run in when I thought he might do it. Sadly wasn't to be, I wish him a long and happy retirement.
