4 horses died in the course of the 2026 Cheltenham Pageant, together with two on Gold Cup Day. Three of which had been following falls throughout their races, whereas one collapsed
Envoi Allen was the third of 4 to die in the course of the Cheltenham Pageant, one among two on Gold Cup Day (Picture: Getty)
Two horses dying on Gold Cup Day made it 4 fatalities in whole on the 2026 Cheltenham Pageant. Hansard was the primary, two races into the meet, adopted by HMS Seahorse on Wednesday, then Envoi Allen after the Gold Cup and eventually Saint Le Fort within the week’s final race.
After the opening race handed with out incident, Hansard sustained a deadly harm throughout Tuesday’s Arkle Problem Trophy Novices’ Chase whereas operating on the flat. After being rapidly dismounted and instantly attended to by a crew of skilled veterinary professionals, they concluded that the perfect plan of action for the horse’s welfare was to place him down.
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Cheltenham horse Saint Le Fort dies as Pageant rocked by second demise
Cheltenham Gold Cup horse Envoi Allen dies after collapsing after race
HMS Seahorse fell on the closing hurdle of Wednesday’s BetMGM Cup Handicap Hurdle after sustaining an harm, and vets couldn’t reserve it. Thursday was the sooner or later with none horse deaths, however then two adopted throughout Friday’s races.
Envoi Allen accomplished the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase, ending ninth, however collapsed whereas strolling to the stables. The British Horseracing Authority’s director of equine regulation, security and welfare, James Given, mentioned: “Such an episode is named Train Related Sudden Loss of life and may happen in horses of all breeds when below train.
“In racing, it’s uncommon, occurring in solely 9 in each 10,000 runs in Leap races. British racing is concerned in pioneering analysis, together with using wearable expertise, to assist higher perceive the causes of this and the way it may be prevented.”
Saint Le Fort, like HMS Seahorse, fell on the closing hurdle and sustained an harm within the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle. Vets then concluded after an evaluation to euthanise the horse humanely.
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Hansard was the primary horse to die in the course of the 2026 Cheltenham Pageant after being fatally injured (Picture: Getty)
The Jockey Membership – organisers of the Cheltenham Pageant – says it really works repeatedly to minimise the dangers at its occasions and says the business has spent £63m on equine welfare since 2000.
The Jockey Membership says knowledge exhibits the speed of fallers in horse races has declined in the entire final 21 years and is now simply 1.98% of runners. The deadly harm price in 2025 was simply 0.22% of 86,300 runners, in keeping with its figures. An in depth evaluation course of has been launched, which begins inside 48 hours of each fatality on a racecourse.
It said that current enhancements embody altering of markers on jumps on all racecourses from orange to white, following analysis into equine imaginative and prescient; a change to padded hurdles to cut back fallers; and the introduction of an in depth evaluation course of inside 48 hours of each fatality on a racecourse.
The Jockey Membership mentioned that the racing business often consults with established welfare organisations comparable to World Horse Welfare, RSPCA and Blue Cross to make sure it regularly meets the very best requirements.
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