What an absolute Farce!!

This is utter bollocks , those boards had to be spread across the fence and there would have been  no doubt , if i was sat on top of one of those horses i would have jumped the last , im sure ive seen parts of fences dolled off in the past and they've still jumped them.

O not drinking - I got a terrible delay on Bfair! thought it hadn't gone!

When you watch it again, sizing europe definitely lost all momentum between the fences. Complete farce.

more water required   FLY   

What about pit to car radios, uh I mean paddock to jockey radios to inform jockeys of course changes?

Cheltenham Racecourse should be fined the difference between the winners purse and 2nd,and that money given to connections of the runner up

Stewards blame jockeys outrageous

You can drees em up in green tweed and fill them full of pimms but don't give them a flag.........should have been out on the course so the riders could see him.

The usual arrogance from the stewards.

A brilliant game, run by complete d**kheads.

Clearout needed

The Fly, he did walk out on the course - when the horses were about 15 yards from the fence!!

The jockeys are to blame!!!!!!!!!!!

What?

That has to be made up.

N H racing run by rich farmers/landowners, ex Etonians and Magistrates from the Home counties, so what does everybody expect. They run it for themselves, no one else.

All officials at Cheltenham should be sacked asap imo.

Fat Al desperately trying to say what an awful c*ck-up, but without offending his pals in charge, Francs back-tracking on effect of shambles on Sizings' chances. Reflects badly on Channel 4. I think Jimbo McGrath might have put the boot in if he was presenting.

exactly ''jockeys had their heads down'' oh right so you approach a fence at top speed with your head down..bollix

Hooray Henry`s on the lash.

FLAGMAN MAY AS WELL HAVE BEEN IN THE GUINLESS TENT. !!

you'd have thought the drivers would have been told over their team radios

The ground staff have actually done exactly what you are told to do and the flag man did go on the course when you're actually told not to - so imo he did his best.  You are told to put the markers in fence so as to protect whatever is on other side of the fence.

should let alan potts have his say .....a man who came from the mines   where safety and organisation is paramount .....built a brilliant buisness and has induldged in his fav sport only to be robbed by a bunch incompatent eegits

potts wont miss them ....let him have a word

didn't even have a bet  but feel totally sickened after watching this **** up

Non skilled Polish lads working as fence assistants i here..

i havent even considered having a bet since the race, its just totally soured the meeting and i had no bet in that race

It wouldn't surprise me if these nincompoops give the jockeys days.

Ah here is the head of stewards

I wonder if a horse had jumped the last then he could challenge the result. If there was no dolling off at the fence then they should jump it.

Not many Brits working on that fence were there.
Communication problems perhaps !! Nothing like saving a few pennies ~!

Who's this prick speaking now

no need for a enquiry into their own failings ........sounds about right for this mob .

bumbling old farts .....

HEAD OF STEWARDS

this guy on channel 4 is a right clown!

Embarrassing! It might help if they put some real people in charge instead of Mister toffee nosed inbred Braindead

I know next to nothing about racing but this guy surely talking b0llocks

Comical interview....

If this bloke is in charge we are all doomed.

Arrogant D!ckhead

total coont

PASSING THE BLAME ONTO RICHARD LINLEY

Absolutely hilarious..."Nothing to see here"

buck passing at its best from him.   

the BHA media centre in meltdown checking all the forums and social media...

PR machine now in full swing........for 10 minutes...

....then back to the sherry.

...

lessons to be learned??? how many you old farts need?useless wonkers

the lesson is learned .........

stick it up your cakehole chelt

What a complete knob. All he said was it was a big boy who did it (Richard Lindley), not me, and he ran away.

perhaps they should buy some more boards

perhaps they should buy some more boards

he looks like he has a few quid to his name,he could not give a f uck,will be watching it with his toff mates and a glass of wine later pi ssing themselves laughing

The arrogance of that lying  chump

perhaps they should hire someone with a brain and put them in charge

olympic standard buck passing. !!!! 

What would have happened if either or both horses had jumped the last?

the 3rd would have been placed 1st

Just another **** up with millions riding on it :(
What did they think would happen if they spread the boards, the jockeys would jump between them FFS!
And Andrew Lynch missed a trick, he could of sent Barry down the hurdles course haha

if one horse jumped the last---one missed fence

technicaly they would both be right

The Stewards held an enquiry into the use of the whip by A.E Lynch, the rider of SIZING EUROPE, placed second, on the run in. Having heard his evidence and viewed recordings of the race, they found him in breach of Schedule (B)6 Part 2 in that he had used his whip in an incorrect place. The Stewards suspended Lynch for 6 days as follows: Wednesday 28, Thursday 29, Friday 30 and Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 and Monday 2 April




just to round it all off

Deary me

ffs

Head of Stewards !!  Has not got a clue nothing but bulls... from that idiot.

You're right steamship..race should be void

Lynch was right to get a ban , he was obviously using his whip in the wrong place , should have been across the heads of the Stewards.

If I were he,Little, I would have found it very difficult to stop myself doing just that given the circumstances!

Educated idiots running the show.

Never been so angry over a race in my life.

People dont mind picking the wrong selection but when the course management can not even doll a fence off with a circuit to go it frustrates me.

ahh, they blow a whistle!!!

'It worked' - !!! What was he watching?

3 markers should be spaced out on the fence and cones put well before it so the jockeys can take the correct action. I cannot believe at our flagship meeting we have this confusion. British Racing needs a thorough clearout.

the bollards weren't there because they were supposed to jump the fence and the bloke with the flag who knows it is being kept well away....imo

lets hope a few members of the public round about heard the instruction go out.

I'm sure they can hear a whistle over 35,000 people cheering, surely?

Racing, run by an exclusive toff club who think they are above anyone else.

Makes me sick. I hope crocodiles invade the course next year.

it did work...Jockeys were not gonna see the boards till after they jumped the second last so was always going to need some quick manouvering...what happened was exactly what should have happened. I dont see how they could have done much more....if they had put 100 boards up, flashing lights, ropes across the course it still would have required the jocks/horses to make the same manouver. Get over it, it happens.

wrong mydogs.....

flagman should have been in middle of fence right in front waving and standing his ground. That would have made it clear.

Where th fcuk id Doive when we need him just wait till he gets back from the states he,ll sort it out wivout them dam Lib Dems just wait and see.

and half way in between the last two fences the jocks would have looked up and made the same move...no need to make such a big deal out of it

Well someone is in the wrong because the jockeys were not sure what to do. As I say 3 arrows across the fence not so close to the near end, there was definite indecision about letting hte jockeys jump it and if they had the result would have stood.

Has there been any OFFICIAL statement saying that they were, or, were not supposed to jump the fence?

I think they were supposed to jump the part of fence that was clear of boards, but that's just a guess.

Badly organised, whatever the case, imo.

All i'm saying is that the last two fences are now fairly close together, 2 horses neck and neck going all out in a champion race....it was always going to be/look messy trying to steer them around the last no matter what was done,  and the overreaction (especially from the channel 4 muppets) was just ridiculous. These things just happen.

think this is correct .they were supposed to jump the fence ...hence the ban for lynch on the false flag charge of whip abuse .......they really done him for making them look like dumbmotherfckers .BJG was just too cute for lynch he stalked waiting for any chance that might give him an op to exploite ....and his streetwise approach paid off on a horse that really could not have won otherwise .Sizing was warm and a little buzzed in the ring before and the jockey tried to look after him then events transpired against them .
as said he should have bounced BJ into the hurdle track as at that point the race was really his but BJ just reacted quicker  .the recent constant changing of the rules and fences and so much emphasis on horse welfare the punters got a bum deal whilst the iNcompetent Course Officials have dodged the bullets aided by c4.A very unsatisfactory end one of highlights of the festival.Thats why the Official on c4 said very little and they will be celebrating a result .

when they were halfway round in the race  even Simon Holt was unclear about what was happening, at one stage it looked like they were going to miss out the fence, and then when they moved the boards back he said they may be jumping half the fence.

So if he was confused what about the 2 jockeys going neck and neck with their heads down and the low sun not helping either, it was very confusing and they had to make a split second decision. 

It was badly handled and the chap with the flag didn't help either, I didn't expect him to be in the middle of the course but he could have been standing a bit further out.

a green flag for jump the fence or a red flag for bypass would have removed all confusion from the easily confused .

a green flag for jump the fence or a red flag for bypass would have removed all confusion from the easily confused .

The whip ban is a joke.  Probably had to use it more due to suddenly having to swerve the last.  Ban should be overturned.

Having said that - a lot of pocket talking bollox on here.  Finians Rainbow would have won in any case and is a deserved winner.  Watch the race again without your blinkers and get over it.  Void race? Grow up!

i think the last 2 jumps should have been taped off,thus avoiding the dangerous situation of leaping the 2nd last then veering violently to the right,possibly damaging 1 or other horses in the process,not much use to se backers fare enough but a heck of a lot safer

lets face facts they both took the wrong course .
they were supposed to jump the last .

bnb, I think you are probably right, they all took the wrong course, so in theory the race should have been declared void.

It happened in the Grand National remember

Whilst I hate to agreed with the stewards you have to remember that people commenting on here have had the benefit of numerous reruns to make their decision not two minutes as happens on the course. I remember many years ago seeing a race at either southwell or uttoxeter wher a similar incident occured and the horses were allowed to jump the fence. Unfortunately the ambulance staff had just put the injured jockey onto the stretcher and the horse had to swerve either side of them to avoid hitting the stretcher.

course officials laughing their bollocks off and thanking the lord for the easily confused.portman will double the jocks ban if he appeals and they will all laugh till christmas.

noone will break rank ....flagman wont be seen again .

lets face facts they both took the wrong course .
they were supposed to jump the last .

No they did the right thing by swerving the fence

Apparently the fence was only partially boarded off in case a loose horse decided to jump the fence.

i blame the numpty fall guy for not blowing his whistle loud enough.....

Theres a rule in british horse racing....you're not allowed to jump any part of the fence / hurdle if only a section is dolled off....so as far as the stewards are concerned Lynch shouldve known from the moment he landed over the 2nd last that he had to avoid the fence....no excuses...his corrective strikes with the whip deemed unnecesary and banned.

crazy stuff.

Just watched the highlights there and it is poor form from Cheltenham.

First of all why was Johnson not treated inside the rails? He fell inside the rails more or less. Horse got up and galloped off and the photographer was safely inside. What were they doing setting up shop to treat Dickie on the course in the middle of the Championship race of the season. If the track was safe enough to have all the bystanders just inside the rail first time round why not second time round. It would be folly to do what they did at any time but to do it for the Olympic race was disgraceful. And then Dickie ups and walks off with only bruising

I was on Sizing, and there today.

He was still in the lead after the fence, and got taken over on the run in. Wishful thinking falling lost him the race

Why did Nick Luck not ask Speers why the bloody flagman was hiding BEHIND the rail instead of directly in front of the fence where the jockeys might actually be able to see him?

I believe that the way in which the fence was dolled off indicates that the officials intention was to allow the final fence to be jumped. However they all bypassed it and the race should therefore be declared void. The officials probably feel that they should let the result stand and not declare it void as the whole situation was so badly handled and they would look extremely incompetent, this being such a high profile race. Hence the waffle spoken by the head of the stewards just after the race who didn't seem to know what he was talking about.
The way in which the horses and riders were forced to swerved around the last looked in itself a dangerous manouevre having to swerve violently which could have caused a stumble and injuries to both horses and riders who were travelling at full speed.
If the intention was really to divert the horses around the final fence why was the hurdle fence not removed out of the way as this could have been the cause of even more problems. Thankfully all horses and riders were OK but the whole incident was a disgrace.

Over 9 hours later and some smart R's has found the ideal solution.  Remove the hurdle. What a shame that wasn't thougtht of in the 1 min they had to act.

Over 9 hours later and some smart R's has found the ideal solution.  Remove the hurdle. What a shame that wasn't thougtht of in the 1 min they had to act.

........ so that's how the British lost an empire !

having been reading the comments made by the forums punters on here this morning i think the majority have come to the conclusion without being biased that the race should have either been void due to the horses not jumping the last fence therefore taking the wrong course, or that sizing europe approaching the last fence was at least half a length up and did seem to be on a very good line into the fence, not to say that means he would have won for sure but having to swerve so violently across the track being so close to the last fence and striking into finians whom did seem to be trying to keep him in did probably cost him the race no fault of geraghty i might add very good ride by him but i think UNLUCKY LOSER.

Finian's Rainbow would have won regardless or not they jumped the fence. To be honest SE is quite old for a 2M championship chaser and only Moscow Flyer has won in the last ten years above the age of 9. It would have been outspeeded anyway.

In the last thirty years only four horses have won the race at 10 or over: Rathgorman, One Man, Martha's Son (lightly raced) and Moscow Flyer. Three of those were extremely high quality and Martha's won in a very substandard year so the odds and history were actually against SE.

Too many people talking through their pockets.

Finian's Rainbow would have won regardless or not they jumped the fence. To be honest SE is quite old for a 2M championship chaser and only Moscow Flyer has won in the last ten years above the age of 9. It would have been outspeeded anyway.

In the last thirty years only four horses have won the race at 10 or over: Rathgorman, One Man, Martha's Son (lightly raced) and Moscow Flyer. Three of those were extremely high quality and Martha's won in a very substandard year so the odds and history were actually against SE.

Too many people talking through their pockets.

I'd love to see some of you lot with the job of the flag man! It's very easy to say he should stand in the middle of the course for longer but the head on clearly shows he moved about 2-3 secs before they got to him and he then went behind the rails (after blowing the whistle which is what actually alerted Lynch). If he'd have stayed there any longer he'd prob have been killed as both jocks weren't looking - I'm not even sure BG was aware he had to move and actually tried to keep SE in and is lucky not to get a ban.
They obv need more than 3 chevron boards and that is where the problem lies not in what people did yesterday.