Humorist was being prepared for a run at Royal Ascot but after bleeding from his nostrils it was decided to rest the horse. In late June Humorist was painted by the artist Alfred Munnings. Hours later he was found dead in his stable, in "a pool of blood". An autopsy revealed that the colt had been suffering from chronic tuberculosis, which would have affected him for many months before his death. He had effectively been running on one lung.
