A horse and a little bit of racing died at Ascot yesterday. The 63rd start of the career of Persian Punch, the most popular Flat animal in the land, also proved to be the end. The 11-year-old suffered massive internal injuries right in front of the stands during the running of the Sagaro Stakes He died where he fell. He died where he fell.
Persian Punch won over £1m in prize money in the course of his 20 victories, 13 of them in Pattern company. The huge gelding succeeded at least once for the last eight seasons, yet is properly defined by one other statistic, the winning number of votes he gathered in the race for last year’s Horse Of The Year title.It was probably an award he could have won only in England For Persian Punch was not the greatest of horses He never managed a single Group One success.

His skill was that he appeared to try more than other horses. He was the vulnerable giant, pounding away at the front as more athletic and nimbler models queued up to have their shot. More often than not though Persian Punch would prove the superior when his sober qualities were brought into play. There had, in years past, been calls for the old boy’s retirement.

Persian Punch curtailed that movement last year, which was his best, providing four wins, including three of the quartet of major Cup races.Yesterday was the time the theatre was meant to continue and, once again, David Elsworth’s runner was the outstanding figure on display by dint of his enormous proportions.Persian Punch looked powerful and much less than wizened. As usual, he was warm on his belly in anticipation of the pursuit ahead. The veteran was last out of the paddock but, as his drama dictates, soon up in the race’s cockpit, duelling for the lead with Dusky Warbler.That particular battle was never properly won and Persian Punch was effectively flat out until the home turn. It was hard work, but it was not something he had not done before Then others took over. Elie Lellouche’s Risk Seeker, won by a mile, well 18 lengths at least, but he will have to wait another day to get a correct reception.For even as the French horse was crossing the line it was apparent something was wrong with Persian Punch. The old horse angled away from the far rail and collapsed in the middle of the course, around half a furlong out. He lay there, horribly still, and, suddenly, the BBC’s decision not to Televise the card did not seem quite so serious.The medical team had no chance.

“By the time we got to him he was white and his circulation had stopped He was not clinically dead, but he was dying. He was beyond help at that stage,” Sven Kold, the senior vet on duty, said “He had a catastrophic circulation collapse It is likely he had a major ruptured vessel, like an aorta. Either that or a heart attack.”Persian Punch was administered adrenalin, steroids and pure oxygen “But nothing happened,” Kold added. “He had all the injections we could give him, but, if the circulation has gone, where does all that go to? The pathway had collapsed.”He was middle-aged by our standards, but he was a fit, healthy horse. By the time he collapsed he was gone and I don’t think he would have felt anything. You could argue that he died what he loved doing and what he was bred to do.”Martin Dwyer, the jockey, walked back through the course gates distraught “I’m gutted,” he said. Elsworth and Jeff Smith, who, until yesterday, was known as a lucky owner, were also in tears “He was just a wonderful horse to train,” the former said.