The winner’s enclosure remained empty after the big handicap chase here on Sunday and the remainder of Cheltenham’s November meeting unfolded in sombre mood on a day when three of the 40 runners in the five jumps races on the card, including Abuffalosoldier, the winner of a valuable handicap chase shown live on ITV Racing, did not return home.

Abuffalosoldier collapsed shortly after passing the post as the winner of the Holland Cooper Handicap Chase, and as ITV Racing’s on-course reporter, Alice Plunkett, was concluding a post-race interview with his rider, Sean Bowen. The incident came less than five minutes after a similar mid-race collapse by Bangers And Cash, after jumping the 14th fence. Both horses were subsequently confirmed to have suffered a suspected cardiovascular collapse.

The third fatality of the afternoon occurred in the next race, the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle, which was also shown live on ITV. Napper Tandy, a 66-1 outsider, was put down after sustaining a serious injury in a fall at the second-last flight.

A spokesperson for the British Horseracing Authority said in a statement on Sunday evening the deaths of the three horses were “a tragedy for all connections”, adding: “The thoughts of all of us at the BHA are with them. All three were provided with outstanding care and attention throughout their lives by those who cared for them, and nobody will be more heartbroken tonight than those individuals.”

The statement concluded: “As with all fatalities, we will seek to ­understand the circumstances behind each incident as we strive to continue to reduce avoidable risk in our sport. All factual data relating to fatal injury rates in British racing can be found at www.horsepwr.co.uk and the overall fatal injury rate in jump racing is 0.42% of runners.”

Liam Kearns, part of the extensive team of vets on duty at Cheltenham on Sunday, told Racing TV after the Holland Cooper Handicap Chase that it was “a huge coincidence” to have two instances of cardiovascular ­collapse in the same race.

“In both cases, we call it cardiovascular collapse, because you can’t say at this stage whether it’s a true heart attack or whether it’s a major blood vessel that has ruptured,” Kearns said.

“Vets are deployed all around the racecourse so both horses were attended within seconds. It’s a high-intensity, racing situation – we have similar every time a marathon or a long-distance race is run.

“There’s always a concern that athletes at a high level of exertion can, without having any previous symptoms, present this situation and it’s a huge coincidence that it happened twice in the same race.”

The loss of three runners on the day largely overshadowed the action on the track, but Burdett Road, the top weight, was a half-length winner of the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle and may now have the Champion Hurdle in March as a long-term target.

“He’s a lovely horse and it’s a great performance from a four-year-old in a strong race,” James Owen, Burdett Road’s trainer, said. “It’s still a long way to go [to the festival meeting next year] but obviously, on his Flat form, he’s more than capable of ­getting there and we’ll aim that way.”

In France, meanwhile, there was a surprise in the Prix la Haye Jousselin as Il Est Francais, one of last season’s best novice chasers and the 3-1 favourite for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day on Sunday morning, was pulled up after setting off as the favourite for the Grade One event. Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm’s six-year-old put in an awkward jump at the water and was pulled up after jumping two more obstacles.

Il Est Francais was a spectacular front-running winner of the Grade One novice chase on last season’s King George card, and had been among the market leaders for this year’s King George ever since. Several bookmakers have now removed him from their ante-post lists, however, while he is available to back at around 10-1 with the remainder.

“James [Reveley, Il Est Francais’s jockey] just said he cut out and that’s why he pulled him up,” George told Sky Sports Racing. “There’s no certain reason for it. We’ll do every test we can possibly do and then we’ll make a decision on what the plan is. He’s not lame, so we’ll find a solution.”

George admitted that there is now a question mark over his chaser’s chance of lining up at Kempton on Boxing Day. “Obviously, it’s not going to be 100% that we’re going to be coming,” the trainer said. “We’ve just got to make a plan and we’re not going to jump to any conclusions at all.”