THIS is the agonising moment a racehorse owner came literally inches away from winning £100,000 – after thinking it was his for the entire race.
Evaluation looked certain to win a 1m6f Sunday Series contest at Sandown last weekend.
This was the difference between winning £100,000 and not – Evaluation loses by a nose in a thriller at Sandown
Incredible sportsmanship from Sir Ian Good, owner of Evaluation, and @DalgleishRacing after just missing out on the 100k bonus
Class acts.#ITVRacing | #SundaySeries pic.twitter.com/Maa8vfh77C
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) August 21, 2022
But he was caught in the very last stride by William Jarvis’ fast-finishing Duke Of Verona.
Credit to winning jockey Cieren Fallon for his perfectly timed ride on the victor, scooping a nice £18,039 pay packet for connections.
The consolation prize of £8,500 wasn’t too bad for Evaluation’s owner Sir Ian Good.
But it was more than ten times less what he would have been celebrating had his horse, formerly owned by The Queen, just managed to hold on.
Sir Ian was due to land the bonus as a result of Evaluation winning three different races during the series.
The horse had previously won at Musselburgh in June and York in May.
ITV Racing host Luke Harvey looked absolutely crestfallen for Sir Ian in the immediate aftermath of the race.
Sir Ian – who co-owns the horse with daughter Catriona – looked shell-shocked himself but took it in his stride.
Speaking on ITV, Harvey said: “I’m absolutey gutted for you. Literally, I lived that. I thought you’d won everywhere.”
Sir Ian responded: “So did I! He’s run a superb race”
Harvey told Sir Ian he couldn’t believe how well he was taking defeat and missing out on the huge windfall.
But trainer Keith Dalgleish cut a despondent figure, saying: “I’m gutted. Literally, he looked home and hosed. It was that last stride.
“Jeeze, I’m gutted.”
Punters congratulated the pair for taking the heartbreaking loss so well.
One said: “Such a brave try, and wonderful sportsmanship from Sir Ian and Keith. And to lose by such a minute margin…”
WHAT A FINISH TO THE SKY BET SUNDAY SERIES!
Evaluation misses out on 100k after being pipped on the line!
Duke Of Verona wins the Sky Bet Sunday Series Stayers Handicap
#ITVRacing | #SundaySeries | @williamjarvis | @CierenFallonJr pic.twitter.com/v0dwVAZRej
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) August 21, 2022
Another posted: “Horse racing at its best, loyal owner and fantastic young trainer, other great times await.”
One comment read: “A nose away from £100k! I’d be sick.”
While another said: “How painful can you get?”
This was the second photo-finish on the card to have big financial implications.
Earlier in the evening winning connections were stripped of £9,500 and their victorious horse demoted to second by stewards.
Punters blasted the call to relegate first-past-the-post Safari Dream as the ‘worst decision ever’.
The horse was officially called the winner on TV before the result was changed by officials.
James Millman, son of Safari Dream’s trainer Rod, slammed the decision.
He said his horse should have kept the race and that the call to reverse placings was ‘clearly a decision not many agree with’.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sportingexcitement.com/horse-racing/shishkin-over-extremely-rare-injury-as-nicky-henderson-reveals-target-for-return-and-constitution-hill-update/
