Prominent owner Srivaddhanaprabha killed in helicopter crash

ARCADIA, Calif. – Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the owner of Leicester City soccer club in England and an international stable of racehorses, died in a helicopter crash outside the soccer stadium on Saturday evening, the club confirmed on Sunday.

“It is with the deepest regret and a collective broken heart that we confirm our chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives on Saturday evening,” the club wrote in a brief statement on its website.

The helicopter flew approximately 200 yards before crashing in a stadium parking lot, causing a tremendous fire. The accident occurred approximately an hour after Leicester City ended a match against West Ham. Five people died in the accident, according to Leicester City.

Srivaddhanaprabha, 60, was the owner of King Power Racing, which has invested heavily in bloodstock in Europe in recent years.

King Power’s 2-year-old colt Well Done Fox is pre-entered for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs on Friday. Trained by Richard Hannon, Well Done Fox has won 3 of 9 starts, including stakes at Sandown Park and York. Leicester City’s nickname is the Foxes.

King Power’s Bye Bye Hong Kong was scratched from Sunday’s Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud Racecourse in France.

Earlier this year, King Power Racing had its first runner in California with Tisbutadream, a 4-year-old filly who finished 10th in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 4 and eighth in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 29.

Trained by Ben Cecil, Tisbutadream is nominated for two stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita next weekend – Saturday’s Grade 3 Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes on the hillside turf course and Sunday’s Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes at a mile on turf.

Cecil said on Sunday that Tisbutadream will be retired this fall and that it was unclear whether she will race this weekend. A stakes winner in England in 2017, Tisbutadream has won 5 of 18 starts.

King Power Racing has been prominent at leading sales in Europe in recent years, including at recent yearling sales. King Power is the name of Srivaddhanaprabha’s string of duty-free stores in Thailand. Leicester City made international news when it unexpectedly won the English Premier League title in 2015-16 despite being as high as 5,000-1 in future-book wagering before the season.