Shocking racing incident sees employees race away from oncoming horses in scary close to miss
Two groundsmen narrowly avoided disaster as they had to quickly escape from being hit by horses during a dramatic incident at Hereford racecourse
Two groundsmen were almost hit by horses during a race at Hereford
Two groundsmen narrowly avoided being hit by four horses as they quickly had to escape the paths of oncoming runners during a race at Hereford.
The opening 3m 1f handicap chase at Hereford almost ended in disaster as two groundstaff continued to work on the landing side of the third-last fence while the four-horse field approached.
Facing away from the fence, the two staff turned round in panic as the field approached. They quickly made a dash for the inside rail, but one of the groundsmen dropped his pitchfork, seeing jockeys have to guide their mounts away from the inside rail to dodge the workers and the pitchfork to avoid a potentially serious accident.
JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
The groundsman who dropped his pitchfork contemplated returning to pick up and remove the tool, but instead moved to safety on the other side of the rail.
Footage of the incident was shared on social media and fans made their unhappiness plainly clear at the shocking negligence of safety.
One user fumed: “Lucky none of the horses have ran on the pitch fork.” A second added: “Only just seen he leaves the pitch fork. what a mental moment this was.”
A third echoed: “Thankfully, lucky escape for all … One of the ground staff stands there and sort of plays chicken with them?!” While another said: “Horses run around, you repair the turf. Horses may run around again, you make sure your not in the way. It’s not the hardest job in the world lads.”
A stewards’ inquiry was launched into why the two staff members were on the course as the field jumped the fence, and a report has been forwarded to the head office of the BHA for further consideration.
Thankfully, the dramatic incident didn’t result in any injuries and didn’t have any major impact on the result as evens favourite Maximum Offers made it two wins from two around Hereford.
Gavin Sheehan’s seven-year-old mount, trained by Jamie Snowden, won by nine lengths after pulling away from the rest of the field after the final fence.
The 2025/26 jumps season Champion Trainer was won by Dan Skelton, setting an eye-watering record of £5million, but Snowden also enjoyed a successful season by training 86 winners, surpassing his previous best of 62 set last season.
Snowden’s most prestigious victory of the year saw Jonny’s Jury win the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival.
