It has just been announced that the 13-year-old stallion H&M Chilli Willi has had to be euthanazed. He was competing with Nicola Philippaerts at the CSI5* in Wellington, FL, and sustained a complex fracture of his left foreleg upon landing at the final fence.

A talented son of Casall, he joined the Philippaerts team in Oudsbergen, Belgium, in 2015 and has since risen through the ranks to become an Olympic prospect for Tokyo this coming summer. It was ironic that he'd travelled to Wellington in January to spend three months preparing with Nicola for the 2021 season, after last year was foreshortened due to Covid-19. Tragically, his career has come to an untimely end for the stallion who's been described as always being happy and cheerful.