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Never seen anything like that before. 9 out at just one fence. Fingers crossed that everybody survived, but I don’t think so.
Were they looking into the low sun?
From memory of Wincanton I think sun is into the eyes from the stands at this time of year so would have been almost 90 degrees from the left, so I doubt that was a factor.
Fortunately I didn’t see it so can’t even speculate about the cause of such a mess but it’s sadly been confirmed that both Velator and Saint Raph were killed.
it’s sadly been confirmed that both Velator and Saint Raph were killed.
What awful news, Racing UK were doing a split screen with another meeting so I didn’t see the incident and with the fatalities I doubt they’ll show a replay.
Because of the split screen it was hard to make out exactly what happened but the leader definitely refused, diving to his left which I imagine set off a chain reaction.
As I Was flicking between this race and one on ATR I didn’the see the start of Hollo Blue Sky’s shenanigans. I take it he’s was put off by the loose horses ato that fence on the next circuit?
Terrible to lose two horses in these circumstances.
Yes, it’s very sad.
Beer Goggles had fallen at the 2nd. Ardkilly Witness lead until he suddenly Refused at the 6th. 5 horses were BD including Velator who was jumped onto by a pursuing horse and 2 (including St Raph) were badly hampered & UR. Hollow Blue Sky’s jockey performed a miracle to survive a blinder at the 11th. Eerily on his own apart from a few loose horses for a bit, HBS was reluctant to pass the horseboxes and go out onto the second circuit. Then when confronted by screens and at least 3 ambulances on the inside of the course he came to a complete standstill (at the omitted 15th). He was eventually walked past the scene & just about got going again by the combination of his rider & one of the fallen jockeys chasing him along before evidently Refusing twice at the next.
I didn’t see the race but RUK posted a video on social media of the attempts to get Hollow Blue Sky going. What stood out was the disgusting behaviour of the horse’s jockey. When it was quite clear the horse didn’t want to race he beat it with the whip to get it going, it then trotted up to the next fence, refused, the jockey turned to have another go and with the horse stationary and obviously not wanting to go on he again started to beat the s**t out of it. Disgraceful.
Jamie Snowden’s theory as to why Ardkilly Witness suddenly refused can be found here.
http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/report/757120/wincanton-pile-up-sees-void-race
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Health & Safety requirements were a major contributor to this accident which, bad as it was, could have been much worse?
The local Stewards were bound to have held an Enquiry into this race but, bizarrely, there’s no mention of it on the BHA website.
The stewards did hold an enquiry and declared the race void which was the only decision they could come to. Having watched the replay I’m surprised there was no whip suspension.
<p abp=”173″>it’s sadly been confirmed that both Velator and Saint Raph were killed.
<p abp=”174″>What awful news, Racing UK were doing a split screen with another meeting so I didn’t see the incident and with the fatalities I doubt they’ll show a replay.
It’s on the Jockey Club website if you want to view it. From what I can make out (has the two screens showing both races at the crucial point) Velator seemed to jump the fence okay and then just crumpled after landing so I wondered if it was a heart attack. Definitely wasn’t moving at all while the other horses got up.
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