Top hunter chaser Castle Mane has been put down after being found injured in a field.
Turned out to grass at the stables of Northamptonshire trainer Caroline Bailey, the eight-year-old Castle Mane was spotted lying on his side, unable to get up, on Saturday morning.
Vets battled unsuccessfully for five hours to save the gelding, who had been an impressive winner of Stratford's Intrum Justitia (Horse & Hound) Cup just a week earlier.
Mrs Bailey said: 'There were no marks on him but everything suggested he had broken his neck.
'The vets did everything they could _ they gave him every chance but as the hours went by we knew we were losing the battle.
'His owner Charles Dixey discussed every possibility with the vets but there was nothing we could do.
'He was such a favourite, and still so young. We're all feeling devastated.'
Mrs Bailey trained Teeton Mill before that horse went on to win the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup and King George VI Chases and she added of Castle Mane: 'He had the potential to be as good as Teeton Mill.
'He didn't have the grey horse's speed but he had great stamina and heart. He could have been very exciting. Horses like him don't come along very often.'
Castle Mane, who was ridden almost exclusively in races by amateur Ben Pollock, was unbeaten in six point-to-points and won a total of 11 races, including last year's Cheltenham Foxhunter Chase.
He was beaten only twice, at Haydock and Newbury earlier this year, but it was later found he was suffering from a muscle enzyme problem.
His victory at Stratford was to have been his last outing in hunter chases and he was set to tackle some of Britain's premier chases next season from a licensed trainer's yard.
Mrs Bailey, Mr Dixey and Pollock were to meet this week to discuss who that trainer should be.
A post-mortem will be carried out.
