Lee pays tribute to Le Beau Bai
Former Welsh National hero Le Beau Bai lost his battle to recover from a cracked pelvis and had to be put down.
Last Updated: 18/01/13 4:40pm
Richard Lee and his staff at Bell House, near Presteigne, had been attempting to keep the 10-year-old as still as possible after his injury, which had ruled him out of defending his crown in the Chepstow marathon.
"It is four weeks to the day that it happened and it was all going very well," said Lee.
"Unfortunately something happened to him - whether he did something to himself in his stable I don't know as you can't keep a watch on them all the time. He was clearly in pain so we had to put him out of his misery on Friday morning."
Trained by David Pipe for one season until moving to Lee, Le Beau Bai earned just over £168,000 in prize-money and won 12 of his 42 starts, including three victories at Chepstow.
His most recent triumph came in a handicap hurdle at Ffos Las in November.
"It's very sad as he wasn't just a very good horse but a very nice horse too - he was a perfect gentleman," the trainer said.
"Both we, and his owners (Glass Half Full) will miss him terribly."
