Pembrokeshire racehorse owners David Hughes and Mike Evans were devastated that their horse Hold Em had to be destroyed at Cheltenham racecourse on New Year’s Day.

David Hughes said: “Hold Em was a beautiful horse and showed plenty of potential and this fatality is a sad end.

“There’s no way the course is to blame, it was just a freak accident.”

Winner of seven races under rules and one point-to-point, Hold Em, who accumulated prize-money in excess of £100,000, was brought down in a melee at the fourth to last fence, where three horses came to grief, in the two miles and five furlongs Victorchandler.com Chase, won by Can’t Buy Time.

A host of horses were withdrawn from the meeting and there was mixed opinion whether racing should have gone ahead.

However, local trainer Keith Goldsworthy said: “I walked the course and felt it was perfectly safe, and I also felt that Cheltenham made the correct decision to race. The decision to run Hold Em was mine and mine alone and I have no regrets, even though what happened to him was very sad, and I am now looking at an empty box.

“It was nobody’s fault, and certainly not the horse’s — he was brought down by a faller, which could have happened anywhere and at any time. It’s one of the downsides of the game.”

Hold Em, who won three bumpers and also the Sidney Banks Hurdle at Huntingdon, developed into a useful chaser, twice winning over fences and finishing fourth to Nacarat in last season’s Racing Post Chase and third to Tranquil Sea in this term’s Paddy Power Gold Cup.

A friend of the owners who witnessed the tragedy first-hand explained: “It was a kick in the guts and the feeling of the loss after the race was indescribable. A small stable has lost one of its stars,” he said.

“I’ve heard owners always say when their horse is racing ‘I just want him to come home safe and sound’. After sharing the horror of this tragic event, I urge all racing fans to always spare a thought for the owner.”

Goldsworthy, who has been inundated with text messages and phone calls of condolence since the fatal accident, said: “It’s been overwhelming how many people have been in touch, but he was a horse who had a big following. He was one of our flagship horses, along with Hills of Aran, and he helped to put us on the racing map.

“He was a lovely-natured horse, a genuine horse, a great trier. He has left a void in the yard, but although he’s gone, he will not be forgotten — never be forgotten —- by us.”