Two fatalities cast pall over chaotic second day of Festival

The horse, trained at Malton by Brian Ellison, fractured a leg following a heavy fall in the Coral Cup which also saw the Philip Hobbs-trained Featherbed Lane put down, bringing the number of horse deaths at the meeting to five.

Last night, the Cheltenham course was again being watered in a further bid to soften the going as officials also defended their decision-making following a farcical conclusion to yesterday’s day two feature.

The race was won by Finian’s Rainbow as Henderson, now the Festival’s most successful trainer, monopolised the three main races with the in-form Geraghty.

That only tells part of the story, however, involving a regrettable – and unfortunate – chain of events which began on the first circuit when Richard Johnson and Wishfull Thinking suffered a heavy fall that also injured a photographer. Horse and jockey crashed through a running rail at what would have been the race’s final fence.

As Wishfull Thinking amazingly found his feet, Johnson was being treated on the ground by paramedics for an injured thigh, prompting the inner part of the obstacle to be dolled off.

Yet, after jumping the second last, Andrew Lynch appeared unsure whether to vault the last on reigning champion Sizing Europe as Geraghty loomed large on the eventual winner. Both bypassed the fence, though the tight manoeuvre clearly checked Sizing Europe’s momentum with his rider later banned for six days for whip misuse as Finian’s Rainbow pulled clear.

Head of stewarding William Nunneley defended the decision, saying chevrons were “on the inside” of the fence “to protect Richard Johnson”. “The procedures are agreed with the racing department. You can’t have a man with the flag on the track as you are putting him in danger,” he said.

Johnson hopes to be passed fit today for the Festival’s third day that will see Big Buck’s attempt to land a fourth Ladbrokes World Hurdle and Ferdy Murphy’s Kalahari King bid for glory in the Ryanair Chase.

Yet there will be a subdued mood after the deaths of the highly promising Abergavenny and Featherbed Lane, trained, like Wishfull Thinking, in the Coral Cup – a 28-runner handicap hurdle run at a ferocious pace.

The deaths will inevitably raise concerns about whether the track is too fast, despite the main circuit having been extensively watered in advance, and some fields too large.

Better news, however, was that Cotton Mill emerged unscathed after crashing out at the second last in race two before taking a nasty tumble while running loose at the final flight.