'He stole everybody's hearts' - Sheila Lewis rocked by death of stable stalwart Volcano

Trainer Sheila Lewis has been left devastated by the death of stable favourite Volcano, whose popularity reached the level of having a race named in his honour.

The ten-year-old, who was owned by the Brecon trainer's father Brian Davies, was running at Hereford on Sunday as a prep for the Volcano Handicap Chase at Warwick on March 10 – a race he had won in each of the last three years – but sadly he suffered a fatal fall at the second fence.

"It was a devastating day," said Lewis. "He wasn't that highly rated but he was really, really popular. He came alive at Warwick and we were aiming for that race again with him and this looked an ideal prep race to get him ready.

"He was going good and was in absolutely great form and I wouldn't put him anywhere where I thought there was anything [that could go wrong]."

Sheila Lewis (left) holding Volcano (second right) at her Brecon stableCredit: Edward Whitaker

Having run for Christian Williams and Nigel Twiston-Davies when owned by Dai Walters, Volcano was bought by Lewis at the Doncaster sales in 2019 and went on to win five of his eight starts at Warwick.

"I just had low-grade handicappers when I started and then I went to Doncaster and came back with him and Straw Fan Jack and they made me as a trainer really," Lewis said.

"When he was on song, he did things in an emphatic way that stole everybody's hearts. He was a grey, he jumped so lovely and wouldn't let anything past him. It wasn't every time but he'd go to Warwick and put his 'Mr Incredible' outfit on and turn into this horse who wouldn't be beaten. 

"I'm a small trainer with 15 horses and I don't know where the next one of that calibre will come from."

Conditional Finn Lambert was riding Volcano for the first time at Hereford and was reported to be sore and stiff after the fall.

Volcano, who made a successful debut in a bumper at Exeter under Richard Johnson in 2017 and competed in three cross-country races at Cheltenham, won seven of his 48 starts in total. 

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