York’s May meeting was thrown into chaos on Thursday after a horse flipped over and became trapped, with his head stuck in a hedge. The six year old Galeron, trained by Charlie Hills, was making his way onto the course to compete in the £70,000 Hambleton Handicap under apprentice Jack Callan.
However, he became agitated while leaving the parade ring, reared up and toppled backwards into the neighbouring hedge in full view of spectators. Course personnel rushed to erect a screen around the gelding while vets worked to free Galeron. The race was delayed by 10 minutes before he was successfully released and able to walk to the veterinary unit for additional examination.
Describing the incident, ITV reporter Rishi Persad said: “There’s been a pretty nasty incident involving Galeron who was exiting the paddock on the way to the racecourse through the normal exit here in the paddock.
“He reared up and fell into the hedge adjacent to that little exit going through onto the walkway down to the start.
“The horse has managed to get his head stuck in the hedge. He has been sedated from what I understand. I’ve been told by a veterinary advisor nearby. He has been sedated. They are trying to adjust the position of the railings to release him comfortably.
“The horses have therefore been sent down to the start through the pre-parade ring. They’ve blocked off the area where that exit is to the parade ring. They are trying at the moment to do their best to extricate Galeron from that situation where he has got himself caught in the hedge.”
The intervention proved fruitful as Galeron was back on his feet and able to be led away to safety.
Jockey Callan said: “It’s just a bit of a freak accident. He got a little bit agitated. He just sort of flipped over.
“Luckily we are both okay and that’s the main thing. There is always another day. The bush sort of softened his landing but it also meant he was stuck in the same place for a little bit longer than we would have liked.
“The horse comes first and everyone has done a fantastic job to get him out and back up.”
Galeron was subsequently ruled a non-runner in the race, which was claimed by Saffie Osborne aboard Maybe Not.