Dubai Millennium, described by owner Sheikh Mohammed as the horse of a lifetime, has been retired after suffering a serious injury in a gallop at Newmarket this morning.
The news of the champion`s accident came hours after his owner had proposed a six million dollar match race with Montjeu, a clash that would have fired the imaginiation of racegoers across the globe.
A source at Godolphin, Sheikh Mohammed`s Dubai-based training outfit, told the Press Association: 'Dubai Millennium sustained a lateral condylar fracture of his right hind leg when working on the Limekilns at Newmarket this morning and will be retired to stud.
'The brilliant racehorse will require surgery for this serious injury which sadly means that his racing days are over.'
Hours earlier Sheikh Mohammed had issued his audacious challenge to Michael Tabor, in whose colours Montjeu runs, on his website.
He offered to run his Dubai World Cup winner against the French-trained four-year-old over 10 furlongs for six million dollars a side.
The venue for what would have been an historic challenge would have been chosen from either York on August 24, Newmarket on August 26 or Ascot on September 23.
Sheikh Mohammed had pledged that if Dubai Millennium triumphed half of the winning prize-money would have gone to a charity of his opponents` choice.
The Sheikh hailed Dubai Millennium as the best horse he has owned after the colt`s eight-length romp in the Prince Of Wales`s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
A mouthwatering clash with King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes winner Montjeu had appeared unlikely when it emerged that the pair had different schedules for the rest of 2000.
Sheikh Mohammed, explaining the thinking behind his challenge in the Racing Post newspaper, had said: 'Earlier this week, Michael Tabor said he hoped `someone would think of something` to bring these two great horses together.
'We`ve thought long and hard and I would like it to be a match, horse against horse, one champion against another. Everybody wants to see these two horses meet and the occasion would be a great gift to the sport.
'Horses like Dubai Millennium and Montjeu come along only every 20 years or so - perhaps once in a lifetime.
'Everyone wants to see them race against each other and that includes me. I want to bring this race to the nation and the racing world.
'This match would be fair to both horses. For us a mile is ideal and for Montjeu a mile and a half but both can be at their best over a mile and a quarter.'
Sadly injury cruelly intervened to render that offer redundant, leaving Montjeu set to head to Leopardstown on September 9 for the Irish Champion Stakes en route to Longchamp and a defence of his Prix de l`Arc de Triomphe crown.
