THERE were un-bee-lievable scenes at Worcester races on Wednesday night.
Two flights of hurdles had to be bypassed in race two – because of a swarm of bees.
A swarm of bees formed on the inside of the fences at Worcester
Ground staff carefully placed signs in the fence to tell jockeys to keep away
The runners and riders had to go around the obstacles in the second race on the card
Eagle-eyed course attendants noticed just before the second race on the card that a swarm of bees had formed on the wing of two obstacles in the home straight.
That led to a delay of around seven minutes as officials tried to resolve the issue without harming the insects.
The clerk of the course Nessie Chanter sought the advice of Stratford’s clerk of the course George Lea, who is also a bee keeper.
Thankfully there wasn’t a sting in the tail to the story, as Chanter bravely removed the wing of the fences herself and placed them well away from the horses and jockeys in the middle of the track.
Chanter said: “I spoke to Stratford’s George Lea, who’s a bee expert, and he gave us advice on how to handle it.
“We removed the wings and fortunately we were back to normal pretty quickly, there wasn’t much of a delay.”
Before the swarm of bees were contained, four of the eight fences in the second race had to be missed out.
Chanter added: “We didn’t think it was safe to jump so the horses and jockeys had to bypass the fences in the second race.
“Due to the location of the start, they avoided the open-ditch because it was the first fence in this race.”
Sky Sports Racing presenter Sean Boyce wasn’t impressed and thought they should have carried on racing.
He said: “I’m not sure horses will be bothered running past the bees. I don’t see why this is leading to a delay.”
But punters saw the funny side of it on social media and were quick to make light of the incident.
One said: “To bee or not to bee? That is the question.”
Another posted: “The jockeys better make a bee line for the rail.”
While another joked: “Punters getting STUNG again! Two fences omitted.”
