The Irish-trained Cliffs Of Moher (registered in Australia as The Cliffsofmoher), tragically died during the running of the 2018 Melbourne Cup.
The Aiden O’Brien-trained four-year-old went down passing the post on the first occasion, with what looked a fractured-shoulder.
The vets at Flemington Park did all they could to assist the one-time English Derby runner-up, but sadly, he could not be saved.
The Melbourne Cup - the biggest race in the Australian calendar, was won by a British trainer for the first time, when Cross Counter – trained by Charlie Appleby, swooped from the back of the field to take the take the valuable purse at odds of 8/1.
In fact, the Brit’s dominated the finish, with the Hughie Morrison-trained Marmelo a length down in second, and Prince of Arran for Charlie Fellowes, back in third.
O’Brien also saddled Rostropovich into fifth, but the race was marred by the loss of one of his stable favourites - Cliffs Of Moher, who always ran with consistency and much credit.
The horse’s death will no doubt spark more outcry from animal rights activists after a string of deaths at the Melbourne Cup over the past five years.
In 2017, Regal Monarch died in one of the earlier races on the card, while Red Cadeaux was put down in 2015.
The year before, race favourite Admire Ratki died from a heart attack, with the Michael Moroney-trained Araldo also breaking a leg after the finish, in the same race.
119 horses died on Australian tracks between August 2017 and July 2018, according to a study in Australia, and there is work to do for the authorities to prevent such cases happening again.