A top jockey isn't getting any sympathy from irate punters after being banned from racing for riding to the wrong winning post at Sandown.
Ben Bromley was leading Saturday's £25,000 hurdle race aboard 4-1 shot Call Me Lord, and looked set to hold off Dolphin Square in a close finish. Problem was, Bromley thought the job was already done, and sat upright in celebration as his horse slowed up.
But there are two winning lines at Sandown, one for the hurdles track and one for the chase track, and by time Bromley had realised his schoolboy error it was already too late. Instead, it was the 18-1 outshot who was in front by a nose at the correct finishing point, leaving the runner-up red faced.
"I rode to the wrong winning line, it's a stupid mistake and won't happen again," he conceded afterwards. To compound matters, the 20-year-old was handed a 32-day ban, meaning he won't return to action until next year.
He was banned for a harsh 28 days by stewards for his mishap with the winning line, and also handed an additional four days for overuse of the whip. And it's fair to say that punters who had money on Call Me Lord were less than amused by the saga.
@darren_cogan ranted: "It cost me 1120 euro I'm absolutely gutted," while @AlexJosef23 was also left ruing his luck :"Let me down for £400. It’s awful," he added. @swadlad wrote: "Sickener. Poor horse thinks he’s won the idiot aboard congratulates himself and punters suffer."
"I still question what’s the point in two winning posts, like what’s the actual point. Just have one," tweeted @chrishughes_22. "Just adapt it. Happens time and time again in years gone by."
Indeed, some fans did also lament the set-up of the course, nothing that this was not the first time there had been farcical scenes in Sandown. In April 2019, One For Rosie was wrongly announced as a race winner when the judge used the incorrect winning line to preside over a photo finish.
@burnthousefarm was one of many to query the logistics, asking: "Serious question. Why in this day and age, is there still two winning posts, barely 20 metres apart??"
