The horse was owned by Gigginstown House Stud and trained by Gordon Elliott. Former Cheltenham winner and Grand National runner-up Delta Work had died at the age of 12 after a bout of colic. The horse, who was owned by Gigginstown House Stud and trained by Gordon Elliott, was last seen securing a fourth-placed finish at the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham last month.
He was taken to Fethard Equine Hospital and underwent surgery after showing signs of colic, but he was unable to be saved. Delta Work was best-known for winning the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase in 2022 and 2023, with the initial victory coming against his Grand National-winning stablemate Tiger Roll.
His first victory at the famous course came in the 2018 Pertemps Final, and he also finished third in the Grand National in 2022 and runner-up last season. Overall, the 12-year-old won 12 of his 40 career outings, including the the 2020 Irish Gold Cup, and he was being prepared to run the Glenfarclas Chase for a third time in addition to a fourth run at Aintree.
In a statement, Gigginstown’s Eddie O’Leary called Delta Work “an unbelievable horse”. “We were very, very lucky and proud to have him and be associated with him,” he said. "He was brilliant for Gordon and Gordon was brilliant for him. He was so versatile, so honest and so sound.
"He had the colic this morning and we tried to operate to save him for the field, but even that unfortunately didn't work out,” he added. "He seems to have been around forever and God bless him, he was an absolute superstar.". In his own statement posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), Elliott said: "Sadly Delta Work has passed away this morning at the age of 12 after a bout of colic.
