Extortionist seen here winning at Sandown under Ryan Moore© Photo Healy Racing
Just days after announcing his impending retirement, trainer Olly Stevens has lost one of his stalwarts Extortionist to a gallops injury.
Despite several operations, the smart sprinter could not be saved.
Extortionist helped put Stevens on the map when winning the 2013 Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot in the hands of Johnny Murtagh.
"He was a wonderful horse to train in more ways than you might expect. A Royal Ascot winner and a Group horse at three, but also the first yearling to arrive at Robins Farm from the sales," Stevens said on www.qatarracingltd.com.
"A few months later, Simon Humphries, our travelling head man, said, 'You'd better get out your top hat'.
"Simon is an incredible judge of a horse, and when he said that it gave us a goal and a bond to the core of our team during that first winter.
"Like many good horses, Extortionist wasn't the easiest to train, but he was very talented and he's left us with so many special memories."
