Legendary Earth Summit 'most wonderful' horse (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Legendary Earth Summit 'most wonderful' horse

EARTH Summit, the only horse ever to complete the National treble, has been put down after being diagnosed with cancer.

The 17-year-old was trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies at his Cotswold yard and won the Grand National in 1998.

The legendary racehorse also took first place in the Scottish and Welsh nationals in 1994 and 1997 respectively - a feat that remains unmatched.

Mr Twiston-Davies paid tribute to Earth Summit. "He was the most wonderful horse.

"He was second in his first race and then he went on and won three Nationals - the Welsh, Scottish and Grand National.

"No other horse has done that, so he was an exceptional animal."

Earth Summit underwent scans earlier this month and was discovered to have cancer in both his liver and spleen.

He was put to sleep to avoid any suffering.

Since his retirement in 2000 he has remained with Marcella Bayliss, who has looked after him since he joined the Twiston-Davies yard in 1992.

In a six-year career, Earth Summit ran 41 times for ten wins, seven seconds and a third for £372,566 in prize money.