Richard Johnson escapes injury after Fingal Bay drama
Veteran jockey, Richard Johnson, escaped an injury after being unseated during the Harry Dutfield Memorial Novices’ Chase at Exeter in England on Saturday, December 7, 2012.
He was accompanying favourite runner, Fingal Bay, who was expected to be dominant in the class-2 contest. There were only two other stallions up against him and he was the best amongst them.
The conditions were not very good for racing, as the track was heavy because of the overnight rain. The organisers still managed to keep the ground in race able position and the action kicked off in time.
Fingal Bay had entered the competition with a starting price of 1 to 12, despite the treacherous conditions. He did not have any issues with the rain affected ground, as this was not the first time for him to compete under such circumstances.
The Philip Hobbs’ trainee started off his career with an outing on a heavy track and no one was able to prevent him from taking the top spot back then. He was not rated as the favourite to succeed in that event, but stormed to the top by a staggering 22
lengths.
This is a proof that he did not struggle because of the going, but there was something else wrong with him. He was probably not fit enough to jump over 15 fences and ended up with a fall.
Johnson claimed that he did not feel comfortable while riding the horse, as he was making a lot of mistakes. However, he admitted that it was a mistake on his part to continue running, despite the problems.
According to the seasoned rider, “Obviously something is not right with the horse, the way he was jumping to his left at almost every fence, and I probably should have pulled him up.”
As a result of the incident, Chartreux managed to finish on top of the table by a comfortable margin. He did a decent job throughout the race and was rewarded in the end. He was given a cash prize of £11,555.75 for his splendid run.
This was his third chase outing and he did not disappoint his team this time around, brining up his maiden victory in his format.
Tags: