Darlan

Poor thing has obviously passed. That's ashame for all involved, as he looked absolutely top class there.

No, looked horrible, sickening fall poor thing.

That was a sickening fall. Racing has lost a potential superstar. Thoughts with all involved with the horse. RIP.

It's ashame for the trainer. The Champion Hurdle should have been suspended, Unfortrunately those slime ball scumbag bookies are tripping over themselves to chop the market and Stan James and Vic Chandler have cut HF to 13/8. Some people have no shame.

champion hurdle market that should have read

1 jump away from becoming clear Champion Hurdle favourite, its a cruel game at times

RIP Darlan

Worst fall I've seen for some time. Awful stuff. A painful reminder of how cruel it can be.

Worst fall I've seen in my 19 years betting. I don't want people to reply to this with "oh but this fall was worse etc". Just saying. A horrendous sight.

It was the worst fall i've saw also. In my opinion it was made worse by a star dissapearing almost as soon as it's star qualities became evidently apparent. In other races i might have kept my eye on the front two, but as soon as Darlan fell i watched and immediately knew that was it. Horrible stuff.

terrible outcome. Looked like he would have been pretty hard to beat in March.

Graeme, i'm not sure what you expect the books to do. I loathe them as much as anyone else but the can't leave themselves exposed. BF suspended their market as ROR crossed the line apparently.

sickening :( I hate this game at times. Not seen the race and i'm not planning on doing so.

I thought the market should have been suspended. Forget them though, i should have left that for another thread.

Totally gutted, came cruising hard on the bridle and about to prove to all what it was made of. Bang gone. The champion hurdle is a lesser race without Darlan. Terrible fall and sickening sight.

Like brooksie didn't watch the race nor going to. Gutted for JP. He puts so much into the game at all levels and has lost Gold Cup winner and potentially a Champion Hurdle winner within 12 months.

RIP Darlan

I just watched it roo and it was horrific. Like you, very sad for JP who spends a fortunte in the game and upsetting for every racing fan. We want to see the best on the track and the CH will be a lesser event for his absence.

roo, brooksie I hope you stick to not watching the race. Was an awful fall - the form is worthless in many ways as the would have been winner didn't finish so there's no reason to watch. Its amazing how just a second can make such a difference. RIP poor Darlan

Tragic event. It's been apparent for some for a while but he really was on the way to being one of the elite 2 mile hurdlers today. By beating the reigning Champion Hurdler I think he would have got the respect that he deserved. Have had a huge amount of belief this horse would find his way to the top and I feel he would have almost certainly won a Champion Hurdle at some stage be it this season or next. It's always that bit worse when a horse you have followed for so long ends their life like this. On his way to stardom like I say really is tragic.

I was going to watch a replay until I read this thread, so I'm not going too now.

I think he now has the respect he deserves, after some (including myself) doubted his Christmas Hurdle win.  Those who doubted him before today will I'm sure acknowledge that he could have gone right to the top over both hurdles and fences.

Also, here's hoping JP can have a big winner at the festival, like a MTOY, Jezki, Binocular, At Fishers Cross etc; don't think anyone would begrudge him that.

Have just watched the re run as ive been working and wasnt aware of events.Was hoping to see darlan not kook very impressive as ive backed hurricane fly for champ hrdle.I NOW FEEL SICK TO THE PIT OF MY STOMACH. I dnt know if im talking for most of us but we but instead of appreciating the great horses we have we are always looking at it through our pockets.Was really looking forward to going to chelt but that was truly horrific. plus just read 2 other horses died.The animal rights brigade will be all over this like a rash.SAD SAD day for the sport.

Absolute tragedy, though imho I'm not convinced it would have went on to win, interesting also that it fell in almost exactly the same way against zarkandar in last years betfair hurdle.

He would have won easily.

The animal rights brigade will be all over this like a rash

...and if they are, remind them that they have never put so much as one bag of feed into a horses mouth, unlike JP McManus and Nicky Henderson, in whose care, horses live like kings.

I just made myself watch it. Might seem a very macabre thing to say (or do) but I almost feel an odd responsibility to whenever something like this happens. I clearly justify the deaths we see in this game because I support and love it, but that doesn't mean I'm not conflicted from time to time; somehow I feel like I should be strong enough to watch these falls and say a silent farewell to the animal that gave everything for our enjoyment.

I was on the fence about his chances in the Champion but he was looking very, very good today and would probably have been made a deserved favourite if he had scooted clear of Rock On Ruby as looked very likely. It is a terrible loss and he will be badly missed at Cheltenham and everywhere else for the foreseeable future. I hope that JP, McCoy and Henderson get some deserved fortune in the Champion itself. It would be fitting to see Binocular win again.

Just seen it. Absolutely horrific fall.

Dont watch it if you havnt seen it.

^ seconded.

sad sad day

I was at work all day and just heard the sad news.

I'll not be watching the race at all.

Sympathies to all the connections.

Can I just write that you guys are a credit to The Forum, in the way that you have respected what has happened today and with your thoughts for his connections.

Have the re-run ready to watch but not going to bother after reading the comments on here.

I was one of the CH doubters but sounds like he was on the way to proving me wrong. Such a shame for all connections. Cruel game.

horrible fall, also makes me realise how much luck in running is needed in the supreme. Darlan was forced wide on the last bend and lost position, surely he would have won had that not happened.

The Fall was very like the one he had in the Tote gold trophy( sorry cant remember what its called now) last season. I thought he was a goner that day... Very sad to see any horse die on the course, but it always seems worse when its such a good one.
My thoughts are with poor stable lad.

i was there today and the silence which descended on the track straight after told it all ( was a decent sized crowd for a monday )

my mrs was in tears when it happened, she knows nothing about racing but it was a horrible accident to witness

R.I.P DARLAN

Thoughts go out to all connections. Such a sad day for racing.

RIP

Extremely sad day for racing and especially for connections, just highlights the risks these top athletes take that we occasionally take for granted.

The poor horse , an awful fall. One of the worst ive ever seen

Shocking fall, big loss to the CH, couldn't see him winning it though, the name of the game is jumping, he was lucky in the totesport last year was another bad fall,

If anyone is betting on the Champion Hurdle then really, imo, you should watch the race to see the runs of the horses that finished.

Resner, the form is not worthless when you have a horse that was priced at 4/1 and 7/2 which is no longer running in the race. It is actually very relevant.

I can see your point Sint, and obviously anyone who wants to watch the race can, and if they feel it necessary to from a form perspective should.

In my view, and apologies as I probably should have made it clear that it was just that, Darlan was about to go and win the race as he pleased. If that had happened I'm not sure that many would be looking to the other two as probable Champion Hurdle winners. With both the other horses likely to improve for the run, for better ground and the Cheltenham course in a lot of ways yesterdays form doesn't really tell us much in my view, aside from we lost the best horse and a potential future champion.

For those who haven't watched the race - Watch the race to know how Darlan was gonna pi$$ up - pause the race just before the last and shuttle forward about 10 secs to see the closing stages. They didn't focus on the stricken Darlan for too long. It's a sickening fall and nothing to be gained by watching it.

I wanted to watch the race to see ROR as was thinking of him as a back up to my main bet in Zarkandar. But I will not watch it and will form my opinion on the reports on here and race reports.

Betting for me is recreation and if not watching this race means I miss out on a winner then so be it.