THIS is the extraordinary moment a racehorse tried to bite a chunk out his rival during a tight-knit finish.
Eventual runner-up Firenze Fire lunged at winner Yaupon during the closing stages of the £400,000 Grade 1 Forego Stakes.
The heat was one of seven top level races at Saratoga on Saturday night.
But despite the best efforts of Firenze Fire’s jockey Jose Ortiz, it will be this race punters remember for a while to come.
As the pair streaked clear of the rest of the field, at the half-furlong pole Firenze Fire lunged at his rival.
The commentator shouted: “Firenze Fire seemed to savage Yaupon there in the stretch!”
In the end it looked like it cost Firenze Fire the win as Yaupon seemed unaffected and the runner-up lost all momentum.
Ortiz agreed and said afterwards: “He went after him two times in four full strides. He’s a tough cookie. I have never seen him do anything like that before.”
Last year the horse reportedly was up to the same antics.
The replays quickly went viral on social media with punters struggling to believe what they saw.
Plenty joked he was the Mike Tyson of the racing world.
One laughed: “Never seen anything like it! Don’t know about Firenze Fire should have called him Crazy Horse.”
In the main event Essential Quality stormed to another big race win in the Travers Stakes.
The Godolphin colt has won 8 of his 9 starts, earning well over £3 million in the process. He’s likely to take on the best European horses at the Breeders’ Cup.
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