SCMP...
Royal Delight put down after trackwork fall
MURRAY BELL
Royal Delight, who finished a brave third to Sacred Kingdom in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint in course record time, broke down in trackwork at Sha Tin yesterday morning and was later destroyed.
Royal Delight was preparing for the HK$4.5 million Centenary Sprint Cup (Group 1) on Sunday week and was coming towards the final 200 metres of a 1,200m gallop with stablemate Famagusta when he suddenly went down.
Trainer Caspar Fownes said despite the fact Royal Delight was taken from the track in the horse ambulance, all efforts to save the smart sprinter had been unsuccessful and he was put down by one of the Jockey Club's veterinary surgeons.
"Unfortunately, the leg was broken in three places, there was nothing that we could do for him," Fownes said.
Royal Delight, who was unbeaten in three starts in Sydney when known as War Of The Worlds, had won another three races since being bought by Peter Law Kin-sang.
Royal Delight's biggest win was in the Premier Bowl, a Group Three race over 1,200m at Sha Tin on October 21, when he clocked a course record time of 1:07.6 for 1,200m. That record was subsequently bettered by Sacred Kingdom in the International Sprint Trial the following month. However, he earned even more kudos for his third to the world's number one sprinter, Sacred Kingdom, in the Hong Kong Sprint on December 9, when beaten 2 3/4 lengths.
Nice picture of him... happier days.....
http://racing.scmp.com/freeservice/n...s20080116a.asp