Jockeys Praised After Stalls Remained on the Track During Race
In the last race of the horse racing meeting at the United Kingdom (UK) track at Chelmsford over the weekend officials were unable to move the starting stalls off the track during the event, which led to jockeys having to pull up their horses to avoid the obstacle.
Chelmsford race halted after starting stalls remained on the track.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:The race was the Betfair Exchange Handicap with a field of nine runners over ten furlongs, and during the event officials could not start the tractor to remove the stalls from the center of the racetrack. The jockeys in the race were praised for their quick reactions which meant a potentially serious incident was avoided. The race was declared void.
In UK horseracing the key way to inform jockeys there is an incident and to stop riding is to wave a stop flag to alert riders in the race. It appears that the stop flag in this instance was shown late in the event on the final bend of the race, which some of the jockeys feel was too late.
I saw the starter, who had ran from the stalls, because there’s been a problem, into the middle of the track. I saw the flag, looked up and the stalls were still there and let out a yell. We did miraculously well to stop because there were some keen horses in there and we didn’t go overly fast, so to stop that quick, the lads deserve a pat on the back. Something should have happened a lot earlier to stop that from happening, but we will obviously speak about that to the stewards and go from there.
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Jockeys Believe Safety Process Could Be Improved
The combination of jockeys quick thinking and the current safety procedures led to a serious incident being avoided. However several jockey’s in the race have highlighted that they believe there could have been an earlier warning and the process could have been better.
Stewards who were overseeing the race meeting at Chelmsford held an inquiry into the events of the race and procedure of the stop flag during the incident. The reason for the inquiry is for all stakeholders in the UK racing industry to investigate the incident and hopefully improve the safety guidelines during race meeting in the jurisdiction.
An inquiry was held into the stop flag being deployed in the closing stages of this race, as the stalls were unable to be removed from the course. […] As all the runners had pulled up and the judge was unable to declare a result, the race was declared void and a report was forwarded to the head office of the British Horseracing Authority.
The UK racing industry is affected by the planned ongoing changes to the Gambling Act in the region and has urged the government to drop its affordability checks proposals.
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