Rarely will the beginning of a race have as much carnage as the Celebrating The 2020 ITBA Award Winners Handicap Hurdle at Naas today where a loose horse caused a 13-minute delay before a shambolic false start then left punters furious.
The race (set to start at 2.45), which had already been put back five minutes after a request by broadcasters, didn’t commence until 3.03 after the Noel Meade-trained Melly And Me unseated Sean Flanagan before the start and proceeded to run loose.
The eight-year-old evaded a host of pursuers before eventually being caught, but the drama was only commencing at the Kildare track with Edward O Grady s Shakeytry diving right and unseating Philip Enright before the start.