A JOCKEY dumped to the turf after crashing through a rail watches on in disbelief as the horse who won by 18 lengths is disqualified.
The chaotic scenes unfolded in dramatic fashion at Uttoxeter last weekend.
Charlie Todd cut a disconsolate figure kneeling on the grass as 100-30 Harry The Norseman sauntered clear in the closing stages of the handicap chase.
Conditional jockey Bradley Roberts thought he was celebrating a clear-cut winner as the Charlie Longsdon-trained seven-year-old bounded home uncontested.
But ecstasy turned to agony just moments later as it became clear the jockey had steered the horse down the wrong course.
Matters were complicated further by Harry Du Berlais, who unseated at the first, running along the wrong side of the rail too.
All the fences in the home straight were omitted too due to the low sun.
What it meant was 3-1 fav Do It For Thy Sen, who finished miles adrift in second, was actually declared the winner.
Roberts was given a 14-day ban for his actions and connections were robbed of their £3,400 winning cheque.
Harry The Norseman’s owner Julian Nettlefold said the layout of the track contributed to the ‘silly’ carnage.
He said: “I was just watching the replay again and it was a hell of a left-hand dog-leg.
“They shouldn’t have kept that dog-leg there, it was too sharp a twist the speed he was going.
“The other jockey behind him actually ran into that bollard so they should have used the hurdle track as the run-in to the finish instead of using that kink. It was silly.”
Nettleman said he would not hesitate to use Roberts again and that the disastrous finish was ‘one of those things’.
This latest flashpoint comes in a bizarre few weeks for racing.
An investigation into Rachael Blackmore apparently riding a finish a circuit early remains ongoing.
While Joe Anderson was banned for mistaking the half furlong marker for the finish post at Worcester last week.