An investigation has been launched into the fall of a jockey from his lead horse – as footage of an “absurd” finish in Wexford went viral.
Philip Byrnes was described on Racing TV as having been “handily” beaten by Redwood Queen in the 2m1f hurdles race at the Irish track.
The horse, trained by his father, Charles, a winning handler at the Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot, and owned by his brother Cathal, started at 7-2 and was beaten by the shortest length of 13-8.
But she was an ‘alarming wanderer’ to 7-1 before being sent off at 13-2.
Gordon Elliott’s Beacon Edge was rated the favorite at odds of 1-3 but looked beaten when Byrnes easily took the lead over the last two furlongs aboard Redwood Queen.
Punters thought victory was within reach as the eight-year-old mare posted odds of 1.14 on Betfair Exchange.
And she looked as if she were taking off straight and on track on the final jump, only for Byrnes – who appeared to glance at the big screen approaching the final jump – to exit out the side door just before she landed safely on the other side.
Thanks to that, Elliott took the undisputed lead, finishing with a margin of 22 horse lengths to win the first prize of £5,000.
Punters were incredulous as race day management initially said the incident did not require further action.
However, amid growing outrage online, a spokesperson for the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Commission confirmed on Thursday morning: “We take note of the views of the race day management following their review of the incident.
“We can now confirm this matter is being looked at by a senior IHRB official.”
The management report issued after the race read: “The race day management considered that Philip Byrnes, horseman of Redwood Queen, was brought down at the last hurdle while leading.
“After reviewing the race record and considering the matter, race day management took no further action.”
But punters reckon Byrnes could have done more to stay in the saddle, with one joking: “I’ve had about 20 beers, 10 bottles of cannabis and a full fleet of jaegers and been on the wagon at Beni for much longer than that!”
Racing TV and ITV Racing presenter Rishi Persad reported the race alongside former jockey George Baker.
The latter tried his best to describe what he had seen.
Champion horseman Baker shared: “It was strange. Looking straight at it, I think you could see the horse jump out of his hands and almost hit his butt.”
“That means his foot just came off the pedal.
“It’s really a gentle overthrow, isn’t it?
“And he would have been extremely miserable having to dismount at that stage of the race.”
While Persad added: “It’s not our job to put two and two together to come up with a number, but the horse has drifted alarmingly, it’s a gentle overthrow – you can understand why people are skeptical about that.”
This is not the first time Byrnes has been investigated by authorities.
In 2021, he sufferedsix-month banafter one of his horses – which was bet a “huge” amount of money to lose – was “injected” with a sedative by an unknown third party and had to stop competing.
Byrnes tried and failed to appeal the suspension, with the Appellate Body declaring that he had been “grossly negligent” in failing to discharge his duties to Viking Hoard, the horse at the heart of the case.
