Jockey Ruby Walsh has been criticised by animal rights campaigners for saying horses are "replaceable".

It came after Our Conor was put down following a bad fall during the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham yesterday.

Walsh, who won two races on the opening day, was quoted as saying "You can replace a horse. You can't replace a human being".

Horse racing consultant Dene Stansall told the Daily Mail that: "Ruby Walsh is the leading jockey at Cheltenham and wants to support the event as much as he can, but you cannot disregard the lives of horses just because they are not humans. We would expect more from him. This shows he has got little empathy for a horse that really suffered before it died."