RACING has been left mourning the death of an icon after £4.5million wonderhorse I'm Thunderstuck was put down during a routine operation.
The passing of the multiple Group 1-winning gelding left co-trainer Michael Kent Jr 'in tears all night'.
I'm Thunderstruck was said to have injured himself after waking up from an op and putting weight on his knee.
That pressure caused multiple fractures and, tragically, meant vets had little choice but to humanely end the five-year-old's life.
The whole thing was described as a 'simple procedure that went horribly wrong'.
I'm Thunderstruck won four of 19 races and amassed more than £4.5m in earnings.
His biggest victory was the Group 1 Makybe Stakes at Flemington racecourse in Australia last September, with victory worth £323,709.
Speaking of the devastating loss, Kent Jr said: "My fiancee Ally and I have been in tears all night.
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"We always said we'd love to have him back at our farm when he was finished and we'll still keep that promise.
"If the owners are OK, we'll find a nice spot to bury him.
"He's a very special horse to everyone. Forget he's a very good horse, he's just a beautiful horse.
"He's changed everyone's lives.
"To lose any horse is terrible but to lose one like that… the way it happened is awful.
"He pulled up sound after his last start and, as we do with all our good horses, we said, 'let's have a look at him before he goes'.
"He trotted up sound but there was a tiny bit of warmth in one fetlock.
"We X-rayed it and found the tiniest fleck of bone there. It could stay there, but the best thing for the horse was to take it out.
"Unfortunately… the vet said there is a 0.02 per cent chance of what happened happening. It never does. It's just awful."
OTI Racing boss Terry Henderson, part of the group that owns the horse, said: "He's clearly got up and in some way or another done damage to the knee, which caused the problem.
"We had no choice then but to euthanise the horse.
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"It's very upsetting, racing is a game of up and downs and this is one of them.
"We're all devastated and feel very much for the staff that have dealt with the horse day after day."
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