4-time Cheltenham Pageant winner Altior was reported to be combating for his life on Wednesday after struggling a “extreme” bout of colic.
He has undergone two operations and Nicky Henderson wrote in his Unibet weblog: “We’re all praying and doing all the pieces humanely potential to make sure he can pull by.”
The 13-year-old was retired in 2021 to stay with former jockey Mick Fitzgerald however his coach revealed: “It was found on Saturday morning that he was affected by a extreme bout of colic.
“As a consequence, he was taken to the equine hospital very in a short time the place he needed to bear a four-hour operation to take away a substantial quantity of his gut. It was an enormous operation and never simple.
“On Sunday morning, he was nonetheless extraordinarily uncomfortable so needed to bear additional surgical procedure as a result of issues. There’s some moderately optimistic information in the truth that this morning [Wednesday] he’s steady, however nonetheless important.”
Altior received 21 races for proprietor Patricia Pugh, touchdown the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Arkle Chase and two Queen Mom Champion Chases at Cheltenham in successive years from 2016 to 2019.
“Pat Pugh has been to see him on a number of events and he’s at the moment in extraordinarily good arms with the entire crew at Donnington Valley,” Henderson wrote.
“It’s a horrible disgrace as a result of he deserves a protracted and blissful retirement and was actually having fun with life at Chloe and Mick Fitzgerald’s. It’s been extraordinarily robust, and no horse deserves this, particularly pricey Altior who gave a lot pleasure to everybody on the monitor.
“We’re all praying and doing all the pieces humanely potential to make sure he can pull by and proceed dwelling life as he ought to.”
Courtesy of Racing Submit