DAY OF TRAGEDY FOR FALLON ; Kieren's Horse Dies in Derby Disaster

Jun 05, 06:43 PM

Current Headlines: By JONATHAN POWELL

SIR PERCY, a 6-1 chance, snatched victory by a nostril from the 66-1 outsider Dragon Dancer in the final strides of the most dramatic Derby finish for years at Epsom.

Barely 12 inches separated the first three home and the inexperienced Hala Bek, a whisker away in fourth place, would surely have beaten them all but for jinking right inside the final furlong and almost shedding his jockey Philip Robinson.

But for many in the crowd the race was marred by the dreadful injury to Kieren Fallon's mount Horatio Nelson, the second favourite, which ultimately cost the Irish colt his life.

The horse was already struggling two furlongs out when he broke his left foreleg, lurched sickeningly right and almost came down. Fallon did remarkably well to keep Horatio Nelson on his feet but the damage was done.

The colt was loaded into a horse ambulance and taken to the nearby veterinary centre, where X-rays revealed he had broken two bones in his leg and also dislocated the fetlock joint. The damage was beyond repair and the horse was put down.

His owner, John Magnier, said: 'Horatio Nelson sustained some severe fractures and despite the best of attention there was nothing they could do to save him. Kieren did well to pull him up so quickly.' Questions will be asked about the wisdom of allowing Horatio Nelson to take part after he appeared to be slightly lame at one point while cantering to the start.

Magnier said: 'I wasn't aware of it up in the stand but, whatever happened, if there was something it was checked by the people down there and they passed it, so there's no point in blaming that on it.' The horse's trainer Aidan O'Brien was at the start to supervise his four runners but, by then, Horatio Nelson appeared sound. So he was allowed to take his chance, with disastrous consequences.

Moguls spend millions trying to win the Vodafone Derby but Anthony Pakenham broke the pattern yesterday with a horse which cost him 16,000 guineas as a yearling.

Sir Percy was originally bought at that bargain-basement price by his gifted trainer Marcus Tregoning, who was at first tempted to keep the colt for himself-But with bills to pay for an ever expanding family, and a new kitchen needed, Tregoning and his wife Arabella reluctantly decided Sir Percy had to go. They quickly found willing buyers in the shape of Anthony Pakenham and his wife Victoria.

At the time of the sale the horse had not raced - he is guaranteed a sultan's life at stud for the the rest of his days now - but that deal has ultimately cost the Tregonings millions of pounds.

Not that Tregoning, always so open and upfront about his horses, was complaining yesterday in the hour of his greatest triumph. 'We have no regrets about the sale. How could we, after a result like this? The important thing for us was that Sir Percy stayed with us, owned by our good friends.'

Once the horse started winning last season the Pakenhams were swamped with tempting offers. They were all rejected out of hand. 'We bought him

to race for us, and selling him last winter would have been awful,' explained Anthony Pakenham.

The path to the Derby was daunting for Sir Percy through this soggy spring.

He was so sore after finishing second to George Washington in the 2,000 Guineas that, for the next three weeks, his participation at Epsom was in serious doubt.

Tregoning displayed patience beyond his years in bringing him back to peak form in the nick of time to snatch yesterday's famous victory with a withering late run along the rails.

'It's a huge day for me and my family.

When this horse came back from the Guineas he was sore across his quarters. He has needed time and plenty of treatment. We've worked day and night to get him back on track,' said the trainer, assistant to Dick Hern when Nashwan won the Derby in 1989.

Jubilant jockey Martin Dwyer had endured his own injury scare on Friday night when he was dumped on to a concrete post by his mount at Bath. He had to pass the doctor when he arrived at Epsom yesterday but, as he told friends: 'There was no way Doctor Who or any other medic was going to fail me. Nothing was going to stop me riding here.' Dwyer needed to be at his fittest to force Sir Percy ahead of Dragon Dancer on the line. 'It was a rough race but I really enjoyed it.I was worried if the gap would come in time and considered switching to the outside. But I thought I would be beaten if I did. Winning this is brilliant. I'm over the moon.' There was yet another Derby disappointment for the multiple French champion trainer Andre Fabre, whose Visindar finished fifth. In the paddock the 2-1 favourite displayed unsightly spots on his neck but failed through lack of experience and stamina.

HOW THEY FINISHED

1 SIR PERCY Martin Dwyer 6-1

2 DRAGON DANCER D Holland 66-1

3 DYLAN THOMAS J Murtagh 25-1

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