- A grounds crew member attempted to run across the Carlisle starting line on Thursday
- He chose the worst possible moment and was knocked over by a horse
- He managed to escape his injuries, but an investigation is now underway
A grounds crew member was lucky to avoid serious injury after he was knocked over by a horse shortly after starting a race in Carlisle on Thursday afternoon.
The man was tasked with putting the starting tape in place, but then chose to jog across the starting line when the race started at 5:05 p.m.
However, he didn’t choose the best moment, because the horses started galloping across the track just as he was heading to the other side.
There were almost twenty horses in the field, meaning he had little chance of avoiding them all, and he eventually collided with the Mike Smith-trained Euchan Falls.
Unsurprisingly, the man finished a distant second and was left in a heap on the ground as the horses continued their race.
A grounds crew member ran across the starting line just as a race got underway in Carlisle
He was knocked over by Euchan Falls and left in a heap on the ground, but managed to escape serious injury
There was a lot of concern for grounds crews after he was hit while the horse was traveling at a certain pace.
However, Sky Sports and the course leader, Harry Phipps, subsequently confirmed that all was fine following the incident.
Despite escaping injury, an investigation will be launched into how the incident occurred after it was reported to the British Horseracing Authority.
Shortly afterwards, an official report was also released stating: ‘An investigation was launched to investigate the circumstances why a member of the grounds crew had crossed the track at the start as the race began, causing him to be knocked over by Euchan Falls.
‘The race director, ground staff, starters and Euchan Falls rider Gavin Sheehan were interviewed.’