Didn't have a bet in the race but would be fuming if I had the fav, should not be happening in this day and age.
50/1 winner Mandarin Princess is actually year-older Millie's Kiss
A tale befitting of a Dick Francis novel brought unexpected drama to a sleepy summer card at Yarmouth on Thursday when the 50/1 winner of the opening contest was subsequently found to have been year-older stablemate Millie's Kiss.
Favourite-backers were left fuming after the race after the odds-on Fyre Cay was confirmed more than hour after the race was over to have been beaten a neck by Millie's Kiss, a 70-rated three-year-old due to run later on the card, rather than cheaply-bought debutante Mandarin Princess.
Both horses were trained by Charlie McBride, but a mix-up in the racecourse stables saw the wrong horse saddled up and make a winning debut under John Egan.
Stipendiary steward Tony McGlone told At The Races: "As all horses are, they are brought into the stables and they are scanned and are allocated into their boxes.
"These two horses, trained by Charlie McBride, were given a box each.
"Mr McBride went over to the weighing room to collect the saddle and was slightly delayed collecting it. He rushed over.
"The stable girl had taken the horse out of the stables and put it in the saddling boxes. Mr McBride put the saddle on, the horse ran, it won. We then sent the horse for routine testing as per normal.
"The integrity officer scanned the horse and found it to be the wrong horse. We have referred it to the British Horseracing Authority for further consideration.
"We'll obviously send a report from here and they will look into the matter."
Pressed as to whether the stewards were satisfied that nothing underhand at been at work, McGlone went on: "We've listed the enquiry, we'll send the report on, and the BHA have 14 days to decide whether an offence has taken place, but it seems like a genuine mistake.
"I can't remember anything like this ever happening before, which shows you that the systems we have in place usually work to prevent this sort of thing from happening, but like everything, nothing is entirely failsafe."
confirmed shortly after the news broke that they would pay out on odds-on runner-up Fyre Cay, as well as the first horse past the post.
Spokesman Michael Shinners said: "This is a bizarre, virtually unprecedented incident and punters who backed the second have every right to feel hard done by.
"We feel they deserve to be paid out, so that's what we're doing.
"However, anyone backing the 'winner' did so in good faith, too, so they'll also be paid out."
A report issued by the British Horseracing Authority read: "The stewards held an inquiry to consider the circumstances surrounding the identification of the winner, Mandarin Princess, trained by Philip (Charlie) McBride, which was presented at the sampling unit for routine testing.
"The scan identified the horse to be Millie's Kiss, the trainer's other runner in race four.
"They interviewed the trainer, the stable groom, the veterinary officer and the equine welfare integrity officer responsible for the sampling unit.
"Having heard their evidence they referred the matter to the head office of the British Horseracing Authority and ordered Millie's Kiss to be withdrawn from race four."
Despite the wrong horse having won the race, the result is set to stand - for the time being.
Stipendiary steward Tony McGlone told At The Races: "As all horses are, they are brought into the stables and they are scanned and are allocated into their boxes.
"These two horses, trained by Charlie McBride, were given a box each.
"Mr McBride went over to the weighing room to collect the saddle and was slightly delayed collecting it. He rushed over.
"The stable girl had taken the horse out of the stables and put it in the saddling boxes. Mr McBride put the saddle on, the horse ran, it won.
"We then sent the horse for routine testing as per normal.
"The integrity officer scanned the horse and found it to be the wrong horse.
"We have referred it to the British Horseracing Authority for further consideration.
"I think the BHA have got 14 days to lodge an objection to the winner.
"We'll obviously send a report from here and they will look into the matter."
The BHA issued the following statement: "The incident at Great Yarmouth has been referred to the BHA's head office in order that we can carry out an investigation, in accordance with our rules.
"Since we introduced the microchipping identification system an incident such as this is, as far as we are aware, unprecedented.
"The issue had not been established until after the result had been made official. After the weighed in has been declared on the racecourse, the result cannot be amended by the stewards.
"The responsibility lies with the trainer to present and run the correct horse in the race. Having said that, and while we have not seen an incident of this nature in recent times, we will of course determine what steps need to be put in place to prevent it from happening again.
"We sympathise with the betting operators and betting public who have potentially been affected by this incident."
Related links
https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/'wrong-horse'-shocker-at-yarmouth/91321