SH*TSHOW 16.52

BHA need to address this issue with the blindfolds immediately

that blindfold remains on when the stalls open should be licence suspension

stalls did not open for two runners at the same time as others

void race

Luckily horse seems none the worse.

Blindfold should be removed upon enter, this is total b0llocks and a horse crashing through a loads of rails looks mental

Jockeys failed to notice whistle-blowing flag man too.

agreed in hell, or do away with them. if horse wont go in fine trainer.

Not a great look tbh....

horse wellfare at its best...thought for a long time this practise of hoods on in the stalls should be banned. imagine the furore if the horse had been killed

Aug 18, 2025 -- 11:53AM, isleham wrote:

horse wellfare at its best...thought for a long time this practise of hoods on in the stalls should be banned. imagine the furore if the horse had been killed

asking for trouble

Cant the hood be linked to the stall so it comes off automatically once the horse goes forward?

Happens with the Monty Roberts rugs Mr Spock but the hood?  As it is on the horse's head i suspect there would be chaos if the hood twisted around the horse's head or neck.

That's what John Leng said on barstewards enquiry this week. How did it eventually come off? Was it shown?

There was a thread about blindfolds a good while back and I was of the view that there's a PR catastrophe waiting to happen, but I had to concede to acey deucy, for every incident like today, there are hundreds of instances where the blindfold pacifies horses and prevents horses escaping control, so I now think the blindfold does a lot more good than potential harm.

Therefore if one accepts this, then the issue is not the blindfold but becomes the stalls, however, does anyone want to go back to flag / tape starts for Flat races?

Jockeys who completed get 10 days

Five apprentice jockeys were each banned for ten days for failing to obey the recall flag on Monday night in a race which was subsequently declared void.

The Martin Dunne-trained Master Zack became unruly in the stalls before the 5f apprentice handicap and reared up. At the same time, the gates in front of Beaumadier in stall two failed to open correctly, triggering the false start protocol.

Beaumadier was subsequently left trailing far behind the others, while two stalls down Master Zack emerged still blindfolded, then ran loose and crashed through three separate rails. He was reported to be unscathed afterwards.

Both the starter and an official on the track waved their flags to signal the false start, which appeared to go unnoticed by the majority of the jockeys as the other six runners went on to complete the course.


Following a stewards' inquiry, it was found the false start was ignored by Jack Dace, Taryn Langley, Jack Doughty, Alec Voikhansky and Tommie Jakes and they all received ten-day bans.

The two jockeys not banned were Ryan Kavanagh, who was due to ride Master Zack but was unseated in the stalls, and Conor Whiteley, who was visibly trying to pull up Beaumadier after his late start.