AMANDA RANDO | @Amanda_Rando
HE was a champion on and off the track but sadly pacer Chariot King passed away on the weekend in a paddock accident.
After retiring from racing in 2015, Chariot King took his Group 1 winning form to the show ring where he won many broad sashes in the standardbred classes.
Chariot King, affectionately known as Andy, was trained by John Tapp during his racing career and was then handled by harness trainer-driver Debbie Holt during his show days.
“It’s devastating,” Holt said.
“He was just running in the paddock and his body turned but his foot didn’t and he shattered his hind pastern and unfortunately we couldn’t save him.”
Ironically, it was a hairline fracture to a rear hind pastern that ended Chariot King’s racing career.
Tapp once admitted that Chariot King will be a horse that he will never be able to replace.
“He has been with us for so long, Chariot King has really become one of the family and he has given us so many thrills in his career,” Tapp said when Chariot King was officially retired for the second time in 2015 after making a comeback from the “thumps”.
On track, Chariot King boasted a record of 121 starts for 30 wins and 39 placings and earned $643,405 in prizemoney along the way.
He competed in 16 Group 1 races and won two of them which were the Bathurst Gold Crown and a Breeders Challenge Final.
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