BURTON PORT, a one-time leading novice chaser for owner Trevor Hemmings, suffered a fatal fall at Doncaster on Wednesday. Trained first by Nicky Henderson before being switched to Jonjo O'Neill last season, Burton Port had been warming up for a second tilt at the Crabbie's Grand National, in which he unseated at the second fence last season. "He was a sweet horse," said Tony McCoy, who was riding. "It’s terrible to lose him like that, for Trevor, for the girl who looked after him, and for everyone involved." The 11-year-old had been among the leading novice chasers in the 2009-10 season and finished runner-up to Weapon's Amnesty in the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival with better fancied stablemates Long Run and Punchestowns behind. Burton Port was also second in the 2010 Hennessy Gold Cup, 2012 Denman Chase and 2012 Betfred Bowl at Aintree and fourth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup the same year. His best performance last season came when finishing runner-up to Hadrian's Approach in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown. In total, Burton Port won seven of his 28 starts, three of which were at Grade 2 level, and finished placed a further 17 times. He collected £299,831 in win and place prize-money.
Sad to hear that ...................... can't help feeling that was somehow avoidable ............................ RIP
thats a real shame - at his best he was top top class and deserved to win a grade 1 during his career
