Vautour death and Tylicki injury are chilling reminders of racing's danger

FAST FREDDY -- jockey Freddy Tylicki steering home one of his many winners before his career was cruelly cut short by a life-changing accident at Kempton.

At this time of year, racing is usually in high spirits as it bounces into The Open at Cheltenham, the first major meeting of the Jumps season.

But instead, a dark cloud hovers after the tragedies that have afflicted triple-Festival winner VAUTOUR and popular, highly accomplished jockey Freddy Tylicki.

They are chilling reminders that for every winner we celebrate as a punter, owner, trainer or rider, serious risk and danger lurk round every corner.

News of the death of Vautour affected deeply those of us who hold such a passion for this great sport. For many, the annual pinnacle of that passion, the annual pilgrimage that matters above all is the Cheltenham Festival. Here was a horse who had enhanced our pleasure at the last three of those Festivals with performances of the highest class. The promise of even more to come, his prime very much still intact, enriched our anticipation of future Festivals. For him to be taken at the age of just seven, via such an innocuous accident in the middle of a field, is difficult to take.

I hope I wasn’t the only one who felt uneasy about the insensitive coverage of Vautour’s demise in certain sections of the racing media. It was coverage that seemed to convey the message of ‘it’s only a horse, get over it’, inconveniently forgetting that without the horse, our sport is nothing. It was coverage that seemed to suggest the main news angles were the blow to Willie Mullins’s stable and the shake-up of the big-race betting markets. I found it insulting at a time when the focus should have been on tributes to one of the best National Hunt horses racing has been privileged to admire.

Ten wins and three seconds from 14 starts are statistics that tell their own story. Statistics starred by his imperious victories in the JLT Novices’ Chase and the Ryanair Chase at the last two Festivals. Both characterised by immaculate jumping and an elegant ease of gait that combined to fuel displays of consummate authority.

Yes, he blotted his copybook when falling at Aintree in April. And no, he didn’t stay 3m when nosed out of the King George at Kempton last Christmas. But nothing, not even death, can detract from his awesome majesty. RIP Vautour.