BALLYHAMPSHIRE BOY IS PUT DOWN Ballyhampshire Boy, one of Ireland's leading novice hurdlers last season, was humanely destroyed on Thursday after failing to show any signs of recovery from injuries sustained in a Navan fall last month.The 6yo crashed out at the final flight in the Morgiana Hurdle when challenging eventual winner Limestone Lad and suffered 'irreparable damage to his hind hock' according to Tallow, Co Waterford trainer Sean Aherne.'This is a great loss and he was without doubt the best horse I have ever trained,' said Aherne on Friday afternoon. 'He suffered torn ligaments in the fall at Navan and he simply made no improvement since which forced us with no option but to put him down,' summed up the dejected handler.Ballyhampshire Boy, winner of a Cork point-to-point, notched up four successive victories last autumn but had little luck this year when failing to complete the course on more than one occasion including that ill-fated Navan tumble.
