2,000 Guineas contender Gewan suffers fatal accident during Kempton gallop
Champion two-year-old and major 2,000 Guineas contender Gewan has died after suffering a fatal accident during a morning gallop at Kempton on Thursday.
The Dewhurst Stakes winner was undertaking a routine racecourse exercise under jockey James Doyle when the tragic incident occurred.
Veterinary staff attended to the top-rated juvenile immediately on the all-weather track, but the animal sadly could not be saved.
Doyle fortunately escaped the distressing incident without sustaining any physical injuries.
A devastating loss for European racing
Trained by Andrew Balding, the promising colt had recently topped the European rankings following a stellar, Group 1-winning campaign last year.
He was widely considered one of the foremost hopes for the first Classic of the upcoming season, entering the betting markets as third favourite at a short price of 13-2.
The prized thoroughbred was being prepared to represent Forz Europe, a prominent syndicate operating under major owner Zhang Yuesheng’s global racing umbrella.
Balding pays tribute to a brilliant talent
In an emotional statement, the Kingsclere handler expressed profound sadness over the unexpected loss of his stable star.
“It is with extreme sadness that we report that Gewan, champion two-year-old of 2025, has suffered a fatal accident whilst having a racecourse gallop this morning,” Balding said.
“The vets were on site and attended to the horse immediately but sadly he could not be saved.”
“Our thoughts are with Mr Zhang and his family who owned Gewan, James Doyle who was riding the horse and is luckily uninjured and Marie Perrault who has looked after the horse since he arrived at Kingsclere and rides him every day.”
The veteran trainer reflected on the horse’s most famous triumph, noting the immense anticipation surrounding his three-year-old career.
“We will never forget his brilliance when taking the Dewhurst in such impressive style and we were so looking forward to seeing what he could achieve.”
“Racing is full of high days and low days and unfortunately this is very much one of the latter.”
