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Absolutely gutted – was at Sandown when he rolled back the years and won in style back in November, it is a great game but at times like this it ******* sucks (excuse my French).
Race void and jockeys likely to get fined for ignoring void race flag – why isn’t it a red flag instead of yellow? But all that pales at the loss of a true warrior – condolences to all connections especially the groom.
RIP Houblon and thanks for the memories.
Been out and not seen any racing so at least I missed this – it sounds horrible. So sorry for the horse and connections.
7 jockeys have got 10 day bans. Do not know if that is fair but if they saw the yellow flag they should know it means stop.
You could see Aidan Coleman pulling up when he saw the yellow flag, the other jockeys should know what it means too and not continued.
They should know what it means but at the end of the day they have made a mistake. Does that merit such a severe punishment, all the more so given it rules them out of the busy Christmas period?
Another jockey got 10 days quite recently for not riding a horse on its merits or obtaining the best placing. I believe that is a much more serious offence yet it seems the authorities see them as equal.
In this day and age a man standing in front of a fence waving a smallish yellow flag in gloomy fading light at multiple jockeys travelling at 35mph+ on half a ton of racehorse in a competitive environment is an anitquated method of trying to inform them that the race has been voided.
Yes it isn’t a situation that happens very often but when these things do happen racing continuously shows itself as still being in the dark ages but surely now with modern technology being what it is (we regularly have camera drones flying above racecourse giving live aerial shots mid race) a much better method than a man with a flag can be found to warn jockeys with enough time to never potentially put people (who are solely trying to deal with a tragic incident) lives at risk.
Agreed, there has to be a better way of notifying the jockeys, and also a lot quicker, they had travelled another circuit but it was painfully obvious poor Houblon would be still on the course, so surely they could have had flags out on the course sooner.
I recall writing on this business of stopping a race almost twenty years ago. Why I asked, couldn’t the groundstaff be equipped with the sort of klaxon used by sports fans elsewhere – a simple can of compressed air, with a horn over the air outlet.
Anybody that has been near one of those at a football match, will know that the sound would attract the attention of the jockeys far more effectively than a small flag. Yes, it might upset the horses, but better that than an injured horse or jockey being trampled. And the horn could be blown when the field is a furlong away and still be effective for alerting the jockeys, but without frightening the horses.
That would give the jockeys a ten to fifteen second warning, way better than any system using flags.
When golf is suspended because of a risk of thunder and lightning, klaxons are sounded on every hole. You cannot fail to hear them.
I watched the replay this morning. The man with the yellow flag was just holding it and not waving the flag. I can see why the jockeys did not appreciate the seriousness of the situation. After they go round the Pond Fence, there is someone waving a black and white chequered flag by the second last. Why the inconsistency?
If the stewards wanted the race to be stopped it should have been stopped earlier.
The drawback I could see with a klaxon is that anyone (unscrupulous punter, racing anti) could disrupt a race by setting one off, much more easy to do than with flags. Grand National for example.
Flags – Why don’t they use a bloody big red one?
On the jockey bans, the rules are clear and the jockeys have zero excuse for not knowing them. Imagine they’d ignored the flags and careered into an ambulance, or group of people attending stricken horse or jockey. Bans and severity fully justified IMO.
Very sad to see the loss of Houblon. Grand horse, the type I think most of us build affection for through the years
I think a bright yellow one is probably better given the gloomy conditions yesterday. Jockeys are obviously made aware that a yellow flag means Stop the race. It was poor from those that carried on but they should have been made aware long before they were. Absolutely gutted about poor Houby. Been backing him ever since he ran on into a place in the Pertemps back in 2012.
Saw the race last night, first poor Houlbon my heart goes to you. Thought when I first read about the incident on Ten to follow jumps thread that it was a poor jump, but no-one was to blame and it could have happened anywhere even galloping in a field.
Houlbon had IMO had real talent and will be missed .
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.The procedure was totally flawed, why have the same coloured flag to stop the race as start the race? A couple of flags with skull and crossbones on would do the job as long as the guys wave them vigorously instead of just holding them in their hands. Why are the flagpeople not instructed on how to wave a flag?
If it was so obvious that the race was being stopped how come the commentator didn’t know?Still don’t know the reason the guy was holding the chequered flag over the rail near the second last.
The jockey’s should know the rules, but no excuse for the yellow flag not being waved further down the course to give the jockeys some warning, rather than wait till the race was on in earnest; it’s a big call for a jockey to pull up if everyone else is still riding. All sides can take some responsibility, and should be a learning point rather than suspensions being dished out
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