Scottish Grand National horses Macdermott and The Kniphand both passed away after failing to finish the race. Macdermott, who won the event last year, pulled up before the race had come to an end, with The Kniphand falling in the closing stages.
The Scottish Grand National went ahead on Saturday afternoon, with Olympic Man going off as the 15/2 favourite. The race was eventually won by 9/1 prospect Captain Cody, who is trained by Willie Mullins and was ridden by Harry Cobden. Klarc Kent finished second ahead of Our Power in third, with Grozni, Rock My Way and Flash De Touzaine also finishing in the top six. But the afternoon turned sour after news of the two deaths.
Racing TV broke the news on their X (formerly Twitter) page and expressed their sorrow as they wrote: “Heartbreaking news. We sadly lost both Macdermott & The Kniphand at Ayr. Our thoughts are with connections.”
ITV Racing also paid their respects to the horses as they penned: “We are sad to report that after the Scottish Grand National, both MacDermott and The Kniphand have passed away following the race.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with the connections of both horses.”
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