Golden Slipper winner Crystal Lily has died during trackwork

In what has been a tragic morning in the horse racing world, Golden Slipper winner Crystal Lily has died of a suspected heart attack, leaving top jockey Glen Boss in hospital with an apparent shattered shoulder after the fall.

Crystal Lily, who was preparing for her second spring run in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes next weekend, collapsed and died after passing the finishing post during a jump-out at Caulfield Racecourse.

The four-year-old mare had won seven of her 15 race starts and accrued more than $2.6 million in prize money.

While she had not won a race since her Golden Slipper triumph in 2010, Crystal Lily had twice finished second to the super mare Black Caviar last autumn and placed second to Buffering in the Group 3 McEwen Stakes by a whisker last start.

Injured jockey Glen Boss was taken to Epworth Hospital where his shoulder injury will be further assessed.

Victoria Racing Club’s chief executive Dale Monteith said Boss was loaded into an ambulance at 7.25am.

“It is a great shock to everyone when something like this happens. Glen certainly was able to talk but was in a great deal of pain,” Monteith said.

“It is a shame when a horse of the calibre of Crystal Lily drops dead on the track.”

Crystal Lily’s breeder and owner, David Moodie, was too distressed to discuss the heartbreaking events of the morning.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said.

The incident now leaves top-rated three-year-old Smart Missile without a jockey for tomorrow’s Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes, with Glen Boss currently engaged for the ride.

Trainer Anthony Cummings will now struggle to find a top jockey who can ride at Smart Missile’s minimum weight of 53 kilograms, but was not available to comment on the matter.