The Lion In Winter dies after fracture at Ballydoyle, Ascot target lost

The Lion In Winter was meant to be part of Royal Ascot’s opening-day center stage. Instead, the 4-year-old colt died at Ballydoyle after suffering a fracture on the gallops while being prepared for the Queen Anne Stakes, leaving the summer mile division short one of its most familiar high-class names.

Aidan O'Brien said the colt “got a fracture” and called it “a pity he never really got to fulfil that early potential.” That was the heart of the story: a horse who had spent much of his career hovering just beneath the very top level, then had finally started to edge back into the picture at 4.

The Lion In Winter had been scheduled for the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday, June 16, the opening day of Royal Ascot, which runs through Saturday, June 20. He was coming off a fifth-place finish in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on May 16, a run that now stands as his final start. Before that, he had returned to winning ways in the Listed Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown on April 15, scoring by half a length on soft ground and briefly reasserting himself as a serious player in the older-horse mile ranks.

His reputation had been built even earlier. By the end of his juvenile season, he had won both starts at 2, including the 2024 Acomb Stakes, and for a time he was widely viewed as the best of last year’s 3-year-old crop. The rise stalled in the spring when he went off the 8-11 favorite for the Dante Stakes and finished sixth behind Pride Of Arras, then came back in the Epsom Derby and ran 14th behind stablemate Lambourn after having once been favored for the classic.

The next stage of his career told a different story. Dropped back in trip, he placed in the Prix Jean Prat, Prix du Moulin, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Mile, showing enough quality to keep him on the shortlist for top mile events even when he was not winning them. A 12th in the Hong Kong Mile closed his 2025 campaign, but the Leopardstown return suggested there was still a major summer target left in him.

Owned by Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith and Mrs. John Magnier and bred by Sunderland Holding Inc., The Lion In Winter won three of 12 starts and earned more than £640,000. His loss removes a proven Group-race performer from the Queen Anne picture and changes the shape of a division that had been waiting for him to take the next step.