Galopin Des Champs has suffered a fatal injury a week after his retirement from racing was announced.
The ten-year-old had joined Ruby Walsh and his family and was set for a second career in eventing.
Walsh said: "Sadly Galopin Des Champs suffered an injury in his field this morning and could not be saved. He was checked a few times throughout the morning but late in the morning when I went to get him for exercise I found him with a severe injury, high up on his near front leg. He was attended to by our vets immediately but x-rays revealed extensive, unrepairable damage.
"He was a fabulous racehorse whose short time with us has left lots of broken hearts but none more so than those of Greg, Audrey and Sarah Turley and Adam Connolly who looked after him for so long. He will be sadly missed."
Galopin Des Champs won 12 Grade One races during a remarkable career including back-to-back victories in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup and three Irish Gold Cups.
