RACING fans were heartbroken after two promising horses were tragically killed in the same race.
Three Stripe Life and Unexpected Depth both suffered fatal injuries in the Grade 1 Neville Hotels Novice Chase at Leopardstown.
Aintree winner Three Stripe Life was sadly killed at Leopardstown
Unexpected Depth sustained a serious injury when he was hampered by the fall of Henry De Bromhead’s Amirite at the 11th fence and had to be put down.
And two fences from the finish, Gordon Elliott’s Three Stripe Life also had to be put to sleep after suffering a fatal injury in a fall under a jockey Jack Kennedy.
Elliott’s runner will be familiar to British racing fans, as he finished second in the Ballymore at the Cheltenham Festival earlier this year before winning a Grade 1 at Aintree.
It was an especially awful rollercoaster of emotions for Dublin trainer Oliver McKiernan.
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He won the Grade 2 Kew Gardens Hurdle at Limerick at 1.30 with No Looking Back, but just moments later he lost the talented Unexpected Depth.
Fans were understandably upset and expressed their sadness on social media.
One said: “Gutted for the horses and the people who care for them. It was awful.”
Another said: “Absolutely gutted. Two horses with bags of potential.”
While another added: “Unbelievably somber feeling here at Leopardstown.
“What happened to both Unexpected Depth & Three Stripe Life is what is incredibly hard about this game.”