KEMPTON saw a FOUR-HORSE photo finish today – with the favourite just scraping home.
Owners and connections of 11/4 shot Chalgrove will be breathing a huge sigh of relief after the gelding held on to win the 1.35pm.
It was some racetrack debut for the French-born horse, ridden by top jockey Richard Johnson.
Speaking to Racing TV after winning by a short head, Johnson said: “It’s nice to win when they finish like that.
“He has more of a Flat pedigree, really, but it looks like he’s going to make into a really nice jumper.”
Presenting Pete at 10/3 got second, with 11/2 shot Toutatis in third and 16/1 Monymusk Lad back in fourth.
While four horses crossing the line withing a head of each other ins impressive, it is nothing compared to what happened at Los Alamitos racecourse in California, US in November.
SEVEN horses crossed the finish line at the same time.
And incredibly the 400-yard dash was won by the outsider of the field – with ‘corona’ in its name!
Short sprint races in UK and Ireland tend to be over a distance of around five furlongs – with 220 yards in a furlong.
But in America, the ultra short races leave little time for jostling during a race.
Bunched finishes are commonplace in these quickfire sprints, but rarely do they produce anything as close as this race.
In July last-year there was another four-horse photo finish in incredible scenes at Doncaster.
The judge at Town Moor had no idea who had won and eventually called for a print to work out the final placings.
Adam Kirby’s mount Notforalongtime at odds of 12-1 pipped the other three runners in the 3.00 race over a mile.
