Rio's King broke a shoulder when falling in the incident-packed Castle Eden Brewery Dipper Novices' Chase at Newcastle and has been put down, it was revealed today.
The highly-regarded gelding, having only his second outing over fences, was found to have sustained the injury by vets in the racecourse stables after Saturday's race, in which he fell heavily three fences from home.
Paul Nicholls confirmed this morning that Rio's King had been destroyed.
'He broke his off-fore shoulder in the fall and was put down after the injury was diagnosed in the racecourse stables by the vets at Newcastle,' the trainer said.
'It's a real blow for the owners and all concerned as he was a talented horse who looked to have a very bright future ahead of him over fences and I feel desperately sorry for everyone involved.'
Rio's King had stamped himself as a bright young novice chaser when scoring unchallenged at Chepstow last month on his chasing debut and his first start for Nicholls.
He started 4-5 favourite for Saturday's Grade Two race in which eventual winner Donnybrook was the only one of seven runners to put in a clear round. -PA
