2 days ago
Watch the moment a riderless blindfolded horse wreaks havoc in Windsor by smashing into barriers
A blindfolded horse caused chaos at Windsor on Monday after smashing through a plastic running rail in a false start.
Master Zack, the horse in question, had been set to race in the five-furlong Apprentice Handicap at 4.52pm when the dramatic mishap occurred.
After being spooked by the horse beside him anticipating the beginning of the race, Master Zack, who had been blindfolded in order to help him into the stalls, reared up his jockey Ryan Kavanagh.
With the horse clearly unsettled, Kavanagh stepped onto the side of the stall to give himself some balance but was unable to stop Master Zack flying through the barriers.
Unable to see, the horse then pelted towards - and straight through - three barriers before eventually being caught.
The race was immediately declared void after the incident, with the commentator dramatically crying: 'They're in trouble. They're in trouble!
Here's the reverse angle of the false start in race 2 at @WindsorRaces...
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) August 18, 2025
'There's six of them there and one of them should have spotted it.'
Indeed, all but one of the jockeys' failure to notice the Starter was waving his flag to declare the race void resulted in them falling foul to event regulations.
Jack Doughty, Jack Dace, Taryn Langley, Alec Voikhansky and Tommie Jakes were therefore handed 10-day bans for failing to stop their horses completing the race.
Jakes claimed he had no idea the recall flag had been waved in an interview with Sky Sports afterwards.
'I wouldn't have seen the Starter waving a flag as I was drawn wide,' he said, 'I don't know why it was a false start anyway.
'I know a horse reared up just as I left the gates but I didn't think anything of it really. I did hear a bit of screaming at the start, but I thought that was when the one reared up.
'We just heard on the commentary and I didn't see any flag, so I just carried on.'
Speaking about the bans the jockeys received, chief stipendiary steward Richard Westropp said: 'Stall two, the door flapped back into his path as the start was activated, so on the basis of that the Starter called a false start.
Blindfolded and unable to see, Master Zack smashed straight through three rows of barriers
'His flag was raised as it should be. All the horses ran but stall four got loose.
'On the basis of the Starter calling a false start, the recall man was stood right in the middle of the track. He waved his flag and blew his whistle so procedures were followed to a tee.
'The jockeys told us in the inquiry they did not see the flag or hear the whistle, bar Mr Whiteley who did on horse number two, who actually activated the false start in the first place. He did see and made every effort to pull up his horse.
'All the jockeys bar Conor Whiteley and Ryan Kavanagh have been banned for 10 days. Every jockey is entitled to an appeal.'
