No horses finish the race as Towcester quartet fall in transit and jockeys not allowed to remount
<li data-anchor="tl" data-twitter-status=" website via @MailSport" data-formatted-headline="No horses finish as Towcester quartet fall and jockeys forbidden to remount" data-hide-email="true" data-article-id="1367653" data-article-channel-follow-button="MailSport" data-is-channel="false" id="shareLinkTop" class="share-icons" data-placement="top" website
TOWCESTER 4.25 RESULT
Cengiz fell
Identity Parade fell
Radharc Na Mara unseated rider
Zhukov fell
Nobody finished – race void
The old gag ‘I backed a horse at 10 to one and it came home at half past eight’ had more than a ring of truth about it after the 4.25 at Towcester.
Because as punters clutched their betting slips and eagerly awaited the runners at the winning post, all that greeted them was a chilly east midlands breeze and tumbleweed after every horse fell and nobody finished the race.
The two-mile novice chase was declared void after favourite Identity Parade refused at the last and unseated jockey Adrian Lane as she fell after attempting to clear the fence – and in the process hampered last remaining horse Dreaper’s Radharc Na Mara so badly that Peter Toole was also unseated despite being four lengths behind when the incident happened.
I don’t fancy that at all: Identity Parade pulls up and sends Adrian Lane flying at the 4.25 at Towcester…and the new remounting rule means he can’t get back on to finish the race
Nearly there: Adrian Lane had tried to hang on during the two-mile race…
…but he was forced to give up as Identity Parade dug his heels in
Cengiz and Khukov had already fallen at the same fence early on and because of changes made to increase race safety in England two years ago, neither jockey was allowed to remount meaning the race was struck from the record.
A disappointed Lane said: ‘I had the race in the bag but there were a few people around the fence that caught her eye and she half stepped at the fence then refused.
‘I knew not to remount, but it’s silly.The vet checked the mare and she was fine. All I had to do was jump back on and walk past the post.’
You put me off: Radharc Na Mara – the last of the four horses still in the race- falls and unseats Peter Toole
We’re OK: Adrian Lane leads Identity Parade over the line but it didn’t matter
Tom Dreaper, son of trainer Jim, was unimpressed, adding: ‘In Ireland you could have caught the mare and remounted.This is ridiculous, she is fine and could have crossed the line.’
There is no record of this happening before and a spokesman for Corals David Stevens said: ‘This shows the new rules in action. Beforehand jockeys would always have been able to remount and continue the race.
‘I guess it is something which may now happen more and more.’
Racing photographer Jackie Oliver was stunned by what he saw and added: ‘It was incredible, I’ve never seen a national hunt race where none of the horses finish.
‘Radharc Na Mara didn’t actually fall and there was some confusion and debate between the steward and jockey as to whether he could remount and finish.
‘The vet was called to check the horse, which was fine, and in the end the jockey walked it back.’