SANTA Barbara, winner of two Grade 1 races in the USA for trainer Aidan O'Brien this season, has been put down.

The three-year-old daughter of Camelot suffered a fractured pelvis and could not be saved when her condition worsened.

Her trainer reported: “Unfortunately she had fractured her pelvis and that displaced overnight. It’s terrible really, when it displaced it caused internal bleeding and we didn’t have any choice as she was in a lot of pain. It’s such a shame.”

Santa Barbara was invaluable, as she was a half-sister to Breeders' Cup winners Iridessa and Order Of Australia. As a two-year-old she only raced once, winning a Curragh maiden exactly a year ago.

Such was her reputation at home that she was sent off joint favourite for both the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks at Epsom on her next two starts, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

She showed her true form when a close second in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes in late June and followed that up with two comfortable top-level victories in the Belmont Oaks in New York and the Beverly D Stakes at Arlington in Chicago.

Owned by the Coolmore partners and George von Opel's Westerberg operation, Santa Barbara was being prepared for the Breeders' Cup when injury struck.