Following a dramatic afternoon's racing at Huntingdon , the man at the centre of the controversy, jockey Tom Bellamy , spoke exclusively to BOYLE Sports to give his side of events.
Bellamy has explained how Blues Singer refused to race and would only go the wrong way, why he insists there was never any danger, and how the Alan King -trained horse came to behave the way he did.
The jockey has also revealed what the stewards decided after calling in every rider in the race.
What Happened
Are You Able to Talk Us Through What Happened With Blues Singer?
Basically, my horse was playing up and refused to race. He refused to go the correct way on the track, which is why he didn't want to race in the first place, but he seemed happy to go the opposite way.
This was even happening when we were walking around at the start. I just thought, patience, patience, and hopefully it'll be all right when the others come, but he got worse. They ended up withdrawing him because he wasn't playing ball.
The only way I could get him back was to go the wrong way, so I cracked on doing so just to get back before the field came around again. I was out on a different track to what they were using and got myself out of the way, but then all this commotion kicked off. From my perspective, I did what I wanted to happen, and then it was all blown up.
There Was No Danger, Though, Because the Field Had Passed You Anyway?
That was the weird thing. I can only assume that at one stage during my journey from the start back to the unsaddling area, I would have been on the track they were racing on, but three minutes ahead of them.
I wouldn't have done it if I was ever going to put anyone in danger, including myself, my horse, or any other horse or jockey. I can only assume they thought at that moment I was out of control and possibly going to remain on the racing line.
The Horse
Is the Horse Trained by Alan King, and Has He Had Issues Before?
He goes down to the start early because he's a bit of a playboy, really, but he's never done anything bad. It was just one of those things.
The location at the start wasn't really working for him either, because it was a bit open. Some courses have a rail to walk against, and he kept trying to turn to his left. I needed a rail on my left, but it's a right-handed track, so the rail was on the right.
The Stewards
What Did the Stewards Decide? Have They Reprimanded You?
They had us all in to ask everyone for their different takes. They had every jockey in the race in, just to make sure they were all happy with what went on. They asked why I did what I did, and what other options I had.
One option was to wait until they'd come around again, but my horse was getting worked up and behaving worse, so that wasn't really an option. Another was to get off him, but he was jazzing about so much I almost couldn't get off him.
If I had got off him and he got loose, surely it's better I'm in control of him on his back than him running loose on his own, because he wouldn't have known to get onto the chase course. I did what I thought was safest and best. I think it's been read as a big dramatic occasion, but in reality, no one got hurt.
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