Trainer faces BHA enquiry after running wrong horse
Racing has had another embarrassing cock-up with the wrong horses running in races for the second time in six months. in the latest instance, two horses trained by ivan Furtado, Scribner creek and african Trader, were mixed up when running at Southwell on January 14. Scribner creek, rated 6lb superior, was third in the race in which he masqueraded as his stablemate. all bets on the two horses, which will be disqualified, have been settled on the result on the day, the rule of the major bookmakers. Worryingly, the mix-up was not spotted by the BHa’s beefed-up processes in which the microchips implanted in a horse’s neck are checked when a horse leaves the racecourse stable to enter the paddock. according to the BHa, this was due to human error rather than a mechanical failure of their systems. The mix-up was only detected when an audit on a routine post-race test on the Scribner creek showed the sample did not match the horse it was taken from. Without the test, the error would have passed unnoticed. Furtado faces a discliplinary enquiry next Thursday where he faces a fine of up to £2,000. The BHa have also acknowledged a failure of their systems and promised further changes. in a statement, the BHa said: ‘it is the responsibility of the trainer under the rules of racing to ensure that the correct horses run in the correct race. This is why the BHa has taken steps to charge the trainer and put this matter in front of an independent disciplinary panel to determine what, if any, action should be taken. ‘The BHa’s position before the panel will be that the horses’ identities had been accidentally confused prior to arrival at the racecourse and there was no deliberate attempt to conceal their identities. ‘However, the BHa has overall responsibility for the running of a raceday, and what is clearly of greatest concern in this case is the question of why this happened, how it was allowed to happen and what can be done to ensure that it does not happen again. ‘This is the second time in six months where there has been an incident in which an incorrect horse has competed in a race. ‘This is simply unacceptable; it affects the betting public, bookmakers and other participants and risks undermining confidence in the integrity of the sport.’ new procedures were put in place after a mix-up at Yarmouth in July when Millie’s Kiss ran in a race at 50-1 in which her younger stablemate Mandarin Princess had been entered. Their trainer charlie McBride was fined £1,500. The BHa admit they cannot be certain undetected mix-ups have not occurred in the past.