The 10-year-old had been starting a second career in the equestrian sphere with Ruby Walsh’s family
Two-time Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs has died from injuries sustained in an accident less than a week after being retired by connections.
Ruby Walsh revealed the news late on Tuesday evening that the 10-year-old gelding had suffered an injury to his near front leg which vets concluded was unrepairable.
“Sadly, Galopin Des Champs suffered an injury in his field this morning and could not be saved,” Walsh said in a statement to Racing TV.
“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.”
Walsh paid tribute to a horse that won not only two Gold Cups at the Festival but three Irish Gold Cups at Leopardstown.
The statement continued: “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.”
Willie Mullins, who trained the gelding, said: “It is heartbreaking for all connected with the horse.”
Galopin Des Champs was embarking on a second career in the equestrian sphere with the Walsh family following his retirement from the track last Thursday.
The Mullins-trained star will go down as one of the most popular National Hunt horses of recent times, with his haul of 12 Grade One victories including back-to-back Cheltenham Gold Cup wins in 2023 and 2024 and a hat-trick of Irish Gold Cups between 2023 and 2025.
He was beaten into third place when bidding for a fourth Irish Gold Cup win in February and that proved to be his final career start as he was ruled out of a sixth appearance at the Cheltenham Festival in March after suffering a setback.
In all, Galopin Des Champs won 15 of his 26 career outings for owner Audrey Turley, who ran the black gelding together with her husband Greg, and earned nearly £2m in prize-money.