Joy for Charlie Appleby was short-lived at Chester when Hidden Law tragically suffered a fatal injury soon after passing the winning post as an impressive victor of the feature Boodles Chester Vase Stakes.
The Godolphin-owned son of Dubawi was sent off at 9-4 on the Roodee on the back of a taking victory at Newbury last month and quickened up smartly in the hands of William Buick to scoot three lengths clear of the enterprisingly ridden Aidan O'Brien-trained Agenda in the closing stages.
It was a performance that should have seen Hidden Law as one of the main contenders for the Betfred Derby, but dreams of Epsom glory quickly evaporated as the colt took a false step shortly after the line in the most devastating postscript to one of the key trials for the Classic.
Appleby said: "He fractured his leg, unfortunately. He passed the line all OK and then when he’s crossed the road, he’s took a false step on it and he’s come down on it basically.
"It’s one of those very freak accidents. Unfortunately, we can only go on what we’ve seen and won’t see again for the future, it’s very disappointing.
"Most importantly, I feel so sorry for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and Team Godolphin. To have a horse like him potentially coming through the ranks was exciting for everybody. It’s a sad day.
"I have to thank everybody here at the course, they’ve been very accommodating and were very speedy in what they’ve done. I feel sorry for Wayne, the groom, and all the staff back at Moulton Paddocks, who have done so much work with this horse.
"Will got up fine, which is the most important thing. He’s a bit shook from it because it’s not a nice thing to happen."
Forest Fairy enhanced her Betfred Oaks claims with a narrow victory in the Weatherbys E-Passport Cheshire Oaks.
Heading to Chester on the back of an impressive win at Wolverhampton on debut, big-race pilot Rossa Ryan pulled his mount wide as the six runners turned for home and just got up to beat Port Fairy by a head on the 11-4 shot for Ralph Beckett.
Ryan had failed to win at the course in 39 previous attempts before finally finding his way to the winner's enclosure aboard the promising three-year-old.
He said: "We went an OK gallop, they steadied up down the back and we got racing three out.
"She’s still showed a lot of signs of inexperience when I had to come out from behind and be a bit aggressive on her, but you can’t be but impressed by the way she got out and had a look around and still when the job needed to be done, she stuck her head down and galloped right out to the line.
"I’ll leave it up to Ralph and the team to decide where she goes next, but I would imagine that when she gets on softer going conditions, she’ll be a lot better again – and I’d imagine with racing, she’ll get better.
"She got away with the ground today, it’s probably on the slow side of good and I don’t think she’d want it any quicker than that.
"She did everything I asked of her and more and answered more questions than I thought she would. We shall see what the future holds, but she’s an exciting filly for sure and she’s one that should get better with time and with age."
Beckett, who also saddled the third-placed Seaward, said: "It was a very good result on all levels, the winner is still a work in progress and was still learning plenty on the job today.
"I think it’s probable she’ll end up at Epsom on the last Friday of the month. I don’t think I will be too worried about the ground, they usually do a good job for the first day of that meeting, she’s a good-moving filly and I would imagine it will be similar ground to today.
"She was just very immature at two and we had to take our time with her. I think we were all a bit surprised by how well she won on her debut at Wolverhampton, but we certainly haven’t underestimated her since."
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