‘One in a million’ end to Killarney race leaves punters on the floor as ‘absolute certainty’ suffers mother of disasters

PUNTERS were left totally gobsmacked after this ‘one in a million’ end to a race at Killarney.

The Joseph O’Brien-trained Green Triangle looked home and hosed inside the final furlong of the mile contest and hit 1-100 in running.

With rivals toiling behind all 5lb claimer jockey Wayne Hassett had to do was calmly steer the two-year-old colt home.

However, the horse, who was sent off 11-10 fav, did not like the strike of the whip nearing the finish and moved towards the far-side rail.

With the race sewn up it looked like there was no need for Hassett to give him another tap 50 yards from the post.

But he did just that and the horse lost it completely, jinking violently left and crashing through the plastic running rail.

With debris flying through the air, Wayne Lordan was left in the lead on the Aidan O’Brien-trained Lambourn, who’d hit maximum odds of 999-1 on the Betfair Exchange.

Breathless commentator Jerry Hannon gasped: “What drama! Lambourn has been presented it on a plate! An astonishing finish!”

Punters who had backed Green Triangle completely lost it and some bookies issued a justice refund after the calamitous finish.

Fortunately both rider and horse were OK after the incident.

But punters who backed the horse will take a bit longer to recover.

One said the jaw-dropping spectacle was a ‘cruel serving from the Gods’ while another added: “Never seen anything like that.”

A fellow punter watching the race said: “It is hard to imagine a worse beat than this. Wow.”

Another called it a ‘one in a million incident’ while a fellow punter said: “Incredible. Never seen that before in 30-odd years.”

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