Watching the head on of the Cleeve coming down to the last and the horse on the outside of the field may have only been mere feet away from where that hole actually was. Had they (or any of the horses in the previous hurdle races) landed on it (given how far down it went), it would have been fatal for the horse and at that speed the jockeu more than likely would have been fired over the horse’s head (as it went down) probably head first into the ground……it really doesn’t bear thinking about.
Quite frankly given the short amount of time they inspected the surrounding area (and dolled it off) and the fact that at that time they really didn’t know what exactly had caused it or whether it was an isolated issue, it was negligent of them to go ahead and run the race……..because we know full well that they were rushing things due to the time fast approaching when sunset was due.
It looked too damn dark on the TV pictures before they went out and we all know just how much TV pictures enhances the actual ambient light available and the so called photo finish picture was a damning inditement of how idiotic it was to proceed with the running of the race.