BULLSBROOK co-trainers Sean and Jake Casey, their family and staff are mourning the death of galloper Dom To Shoot, who only returned home from Victoria two weeks ago.

On Tuesday Sean Casey said it was one of those freak things where Dom To Shoot was having a roll, upset his stomach, twisted his intestine and could not be saved.

Casey said it was devastating for everyone and difficult to talk about.

It says something about Casey’s character and the sadness of the moment that he almost forgot to mention that Dom To Shoot was their first Group 1 winner when Echo News asked him how he will remember their six-year-old stable favourite, who won more than $2 million in prizemoney.

Casey said he would remember him as a horse who raced as a good two-year-old and who raced to the end of his career at top level.

“He was obviously a good-natured horse, a horse everyone could get on with and anyone could ride,’’ he said.

“Jake and Bonnie (Palise) got very close to him through taking him over east - he went over east twice.’’

On his latest trip over east Dom To Shoot was fourth in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield.

In the latter half of last year the galloper’s form was remarkable given that earlier in the year the son of Shooting To Win and Princess Rouge had fallen in the Perth Cup while trying to avoid another horse, which had fallen and had to be euthanised but then after extensive vet checks had raced in a re-run of the cup 14 days later.

On November 25, 2023 he finished third in the Group 1 Railway Stakes and a fortnight before that he was second in the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes.

When Dom To Shoot won the Northerly Stakes (1800m) at Ascot in December last year – their first Group 1– Casey was thrilled.

A few days after the Northerly, Casey said the horse’s fall in the Perth Cup had been horrific to watch but he had bounced back up although some of the best horsemen he’d known had told him he wouldn’t come back to top form after it.

“He’s a really happy horse who loves his carrots and his work,’’ he said in December.

“He’s a real individual and gets about his work and he’s got superior talent.”

On Tuesday Casey said: “It’s not real easy for us to talk about it” but he realised Dom To Shoot had a top following and “ a lot of battlers loved him’’.