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When the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) stewards deemed Benvenuto Cellini a non-runner after competing in Saturday's Epsom Derby, my initial reaction was that it was an announcement error.
Why would the stewards decide that a horse which had made its own bad luck by lifting its hind leg onto the running board in the starting stall be deemed a non-runner after the race was run?
My Racing StorySponsored By Tote
I'm from Maghery in Co Armagh and I don't come from an equine background. It was a friend that did show jumping, to a pony level, and I tagged along with him. Then his mum got me into riding lessons in the local area, and it took off from there then. The first time I sat on a racehorse was in Stephen McConville's yard. He was only 10 minutes down the road from me. I was 15 and I rode out at the weekends and whenever I was off school in the summer.
Pundits Split On Derby Controversy
Emma Nagle, Johnny Ward and Paddy Flood discuss all the fallout from the Derby