“Strikingly beautiful and freakishly fast”: Racing industry remembers I'm Thunderstruck
The racing world is in mourning after news broke that superstar galloper I’m Thunderstruck tragically passed away on Thursday afternoon.
A multiple Group 1 winner, I’m Thunderstruck was loved and adored by racing fans around the world.
Whether it be his stunning white blaze, his beautiful nature, or his ability to hit the line when the odds were against him.
I’m Thunderstruck was just a wonderful athlete.
He wasn’t just special because he was fast, he was such a popular horse that also changed so many lives.
The late great Les Carlyon epitomises what racing is all about.
"These days when people insist on talking about the industry and the gambling dollar, it's possible to forget what racing is about, in the end, we remember only the horses, if racing were just an industry it would be on the financial pages," Carlyon said.
"It would have the warmth of merchant banking and the literary traditions of insurance, all that can make racing beautiful and all that ever elevates it about dull commerce, is the horse.
"Take away the horse and you have no hero, no theatre, you are left with the zombie inserting a gambling dollar into a machine."
His co-trainer Michael Kent Jnr held back tears on Thursday night when speaking about the champ.
"Ali and I have been in tears all night. We always said we'd love to have him back at our farm when he is finished," Kent Jnr said.
"We will still keep our promise and if the owners are okay, we will find a nice place to bury him. A nice park there.
"It's tough. He is a very special horse to everyone. Forget he is a good horse, he is just a beautiful horse. He's so intelligent.
"He has changed everyone's lives. To lose any horse is terrible, but to lose one like that is awful with the way it happened.”
I’m Thunderstruck epitomises everything there is to love about this great game and SENTrack’s Cam Luke paid tribute to a horse that delivered some of his greatest thrills in racing.
“The fact is that horse racing does unfortunately at times lend itself to this type of tragedy,” Luke said.
“Our thoughts go out to Mick Price, Michael Kent Jnr, everyone within the stable, the OTI group and the punters around the nation and probably the world who loved this horse.
“We all loved this horse, maybe for its cult like name, or the fact that you might’ve had $5 on him in the Golden Eagle or the Makybe Diva Stakes, or even an each-way play on him in the Cox Plate.
“He was a horse that was strikingly beautiful and freakishly fast, and I speak for everyone here at SEN, Ladbrokes and the entire racing community who may not necessarily have a major voice in a media way, we say a big, big thank you.”
I’m Thunderstruck amassed $8,301,000 in prize money with seven wins from 22 career starts, including two Group 1s, and will go down as a champion of the thoroughbred industry.
IMAGE THANKS TO WAYNE TAYLOR