Chindi, a millionaire who won the hearts of racing fans for his closing kick and the hearts of horsemen for his enduring second career as a stable pony, died Thursday at the age of 29, said Ran Leonard, the grandson of his owner, Carol Ricks.   Chindi, who had been based at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., was euthanized after recently showing signs of neurological stress in an age-related issue, according to Leonard.   It was a day nobody really thought would come, as Chindi for decades has been a constant presence on the Oaklawn and Churchill Downs backstretches during training hours, enthusiastically leading horses to and from the track with his longtime trainer, Steve Hobby.   “Steve was on his back as recently as two days ago,” Leonard said Thursday. “This is all so very quick.   “He’s not old. He’s just Chindi.”   Chindi was so popular that he had a retirement party when he finished his racing career in 2005, jogging before the public at Oaklawn under regular rider Tim Doocy. And in 2020, Hot Springs Mayor Pat McCabe declared March 16 as Chindi Day in Hot Springs. Chindi was part of a winner’s circle presentation in which a proclamation was read celebrating the popular steed as an “equine ambassador” for Oaklawn.    “Everybody wants to see Chindi,” Ricks said in a 2018 interview with Daily Racing Form. “He should have been in the movies. I think he could have been another Trigger.”  On the track, Chindi won 18 of 81 starts, including five stakes. They included the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap in 1998 at Oaklawn.   Chindi won many of his races in Silky Sullivan-type fashion, closing through the stretch like a speeding white snowball. It’s a style Chindi developed himself after winning his career debut on the front end in a 1997 maiden race at Oaklawn, when ridden by Don Pettinger.  “Actually, what happened was we took him to Lone Star, and he stumbled real bad leaving the gate and was way back and came running like crazy,” Hobby said in a 2018 interview with Daily Racing Form. “He ran second, and it was like he liked that, so from then on he did that on his own. It was an accident how it started.”  Ran Leonard said Chindi was the last horse his grandfather, Ran Ricks, purchased before he died. Chindi was a private purchase as a yearling. He was by El Prado.   Ran Leonard said Carol Ricks was dealing with the loss as best she could Thursday.   “She’s obviously very sad,” Leonard said. “She said ‘He gave us 29 years and if we had a chance to do it over again, we’d do it 1,001 times again.’ ”    Leonard on Thursday expressed a great deal of gratitude for the outstanding care Hobby, his family, and team gave to Chindi. He also expressed a deep appreciation for all of those who were fans of Chindi.   “I just want to reiterate that Steve Hobby, who cares for all of his horses, cared for Chindi above and beyond,” Leonard said. “He got to lead a king’s life. Steve did everything right by the horse.”   The loss of Chindi is the end of an era for many folks.  “It’s going to be very strange going to the barn, not grabbing 10 peppermints to give to Chindi,” Leonard said.   “There will never be another Chindi. There might be another come-from-behind white sprinter, but there will never be another him.”   It’s the same sentiment Carol Ricks shared in the 2018 interview.   “He’s just been the joy of my life, a once-in-a-lifetime horse,” she said.