Jockey thinks he’s won race only to realise he’s made mother of all mistakes
JOCKEY Tom Buckley almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory after mistaking the winning post at Worcester.
Riding the 3-1 favourite Ranco, his partner was pushed along miles from home and made several mistakes.
Buckley had to pull out all the stops to get the six-year-old to the front after the final hurdle in a ride of the month contender.
All that had work was nearly lost when Buckley mistook the half-furlong pole as the winning post, standing up in the saddle.
Luckily for him, Ranco kept striding out and he soon realised, getting back into the saddle and securing the win by just under a length.
Buckley could be seen sighing in relief as he was came into the winners enclosure, managing a small smile.
Punters who backed Ranco certainly wouldn’t have been smiling, however, and may have needed a change of underwear.
One punter said: “That was almost a lengthy ban… Phew!”
While another said: “Specsavers in the morning young man haha.”
Plenty took to Buckley’s side too, with one saying: “Wouldn’t it be a lot easier if we used a different marker for the 1/2 furlong marker.
“Maybe a different coloured section of railing as opposed to a marker in a stick, could save a lot of trouble.”
Buckley would have been having flashbacks to December, where he was given a 12-day ban for taking the wrong course at Leicester.
He was in the lead aboard Sindabella but didn’t turn into the straight, forcing him to pull up soon after.
It was the second incident of its kind at Worcester in a matter of months, with Joe Anderson mistaking the same marker.
He wasn’t so lucky, losing the race on Trolley Boy and sparking a Twitter meltdown in the process.
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