Viking Flagship, one of the most popular and bravest chasers of the 1990s, is dead.
The retired 13-year-old, who won the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in 1994 and 1995, was put down after fracturing a hind pastern at exercise at Barbury Castle stables in Wiltshire.
David Nicholson, who trained Graham Roach`s gelding for most of the horse`s career, paid this tribute in Viking Flagship in today`s Racing Post: 'He was the hardest, toughest horse I have ever been privileged to know.'
Adrian Maguire, who rode him to victory in the first of his two wins in the two-mile championship at the Cheltenham Festival, said: 'He was an unbelievable horse, very easy to ride, you just pointed him and he did the rest. He never knew when to give up and was the toughest horse I have ever ridden.
Viking Flagship was retired after finishing fifth in the 1998 Champion Chase, his fifth consecutive appearance in the race.
He won 24 times in a 55-race career, earning prize money totalling #599,566.
