Third horse dies at Cheltenham, in his last race

A third horse has died at this year's Cheltenham festival.

The 12-year-old Envoi Allen collapsed and died after finishing ninth in the festival's flagship race, the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

His owners, Cheveley Park Stud, had previously confirmed that he would have retired following his run in the blue riband, his eighth career appearance at the festival.

Over the course of his life, Envoi Allen won 10 Grade Ones races in total, having started out with the stable of Gordon Elliott, before moving to trainer Henry de Bromhead.

HMS Seahorse and Hansard were the two other horses that died at this year's Cheltenham festival.

In a statement after the death of the second horse, animal charity RSPCA said: "Lessons must be learned from tragedies like this - around the contributing factors, pre-and mid-race decision-making, and means of prevention".

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The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has not released any information about the deaths on its website.

However, the group did announce yesterday that it would launch a review into the starts of races at Cheltenham, following a series of false starts.

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