Favourite Wilde Sapphire is left hopelessly behind at the start© Photo Healy Racing
There was controversy as racing got underway at Tramore today when favourite Wilde Sapphire in the opening www.tramore-racecourse.com Maiden Hurdle, was left hopelessly at the start when facing the wrong direction, in a race eventually won by Kalaroa
The tight layout of the track, as ever, leaves starters and jockeys with little room for manoeuvre but after two false starts, Wilde Sapphire (3/1 favourite), was facing the wrong direction when the tapes were left go by Starter Pat Malone. The (not so) 'jolly' then set off hopelessly adrift of the field and finished an always-behind thirteenth.
Winner Kalaroa avoided the mayhem and benefited from a typical Mike Darcy no-nonsense ride, making all for a length win over Artful Artist
A subsequent Stewards' Enquiry, into the incident at the start, went on for an hour but the result was left stand, although Paddy Power Bookmakers subsequently refunded all bets on Wilde Sapphire.
Afterwards winning trainer Sean Treacy stated “it's great to get a winner - I think my last was about two years ago!
“It's great for the syndicate, who're from Malahide, and have had a lot of nice horse with me over the years. Like this one, a lot of them are Aga Khan bred and I was worried about the ground today as her best run was for John Oxx over a mile on heavy ground.
“I've only three horses at the moment and hopefully our luck is changing and we'll get a few more now.”
By Thomas Weekes, quotes from Alan Magee.
