Daily Times

DUBLIN: Irish steeplechasing great Moscow Flyer died on Friday aged 22 of colic, his former trainer Jessica Harrington said.

The Harrington star won 26 of his 44 starts, including 10 Grade One events between 1999 and 2006 with the highlights two Champion Chase – the top race for two-mile chasers – victories.

“He was the horse of a lifetime, I’ll never have another like him,” Harrington said. “Without a shadow of a doubt, I think the day he was at his best was Sandown in 2004 in the Tingle Creek. “That day it all went like clockwork against two other brilliant horses (Azertyuiop and Well Chief),” she added.

Moscow Flyer – who retired from the track in 2006 after failing to land a third Champion Chase – also gave jockey Barry Geraghty’s career a huge boost. “He’s the horse that kick-started my career. He was something special – a superstar,” Geraghty said, who has gone on to become one of the leading big-race riders in the British Isles.