Successful galloper Circle Of Power passed away last Saturday on what was a sad day of racing for trainer Ron Craig.

The five-year-old collapsed and died during the final race at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney.

Circle Of Power was at the top of the straight when apprentice jockey Blake Spriggs sensed something was very wrong.

The Arena gelding then suffered what appeared to be a fatal heart attack before crashing through the running rail 300 metres from home.

Spriggs was lucky to escape the incident with only a fat lip after jumping from the horse moments before the fall.

“I think I bit it on the way down,” Spriggs said.

“The plastic running rail really helped me there.

“I tried to pull him up but then I just bailed out.”

Trainer Ron Craig was inconsolable after the tragic accident, which left him without his stable favourite.

Craig had been confident that Circle Of Power had his best runs still ahead of him prior to Saturday’s unforeseeable event.

“He’s the best I’ve had him in a long time and I couldn’t have been more happy with him,” he said.

“It’s just such a shock.”

Circle Of Power was coming off a last start win in the $85,000 2013 ATC Membership On Sale Handicap and was paying odds of $21 to win Saturday’s race at bookmaker.com.au.

Prior to that, the horse had placed a gallant sixth at Canterbury on December 29th.

Chris Waller’s Riva De Lago went on to win the race despite the dramatic race fall.

Circle Of Power won six of his 43 race starts during his impressive career and earned more than $310,000 in prize money.

The Races.com.au team would like to extend their deepest condolences to the training and ownership team of Circle Of Power.