Blankney Point-to-Point 2013 Fourth Race
by Baron Halpenny, LincsMag Editor
Date: 26 February 2013
An interesting incident of the day was in the Fourth race at the 11th fence on the course.
On the first time round Drom ridden by Will Kitchman, was leading the field and took the jump well (fence 11), but Wolf Moon who was just near the back of the main bunch, landed awkwardly thus unseating the jockey, William Kinsay, who fell heavily.
Kinsay rolled on the ground in a confused and pained way, which I was surprised that the St John’s medic who was on the scene allowed the jockey to do this as the first thing you should do is keep the casualty still and put him in the recovery position till the doctor arrived.
If the jockey had a broken rib or other broken bones then rolling around on the floor would only make the injury worse, even fatal with a broken or splintered bone possibly puncturing something vital.
However that was not the main incident of the race, though it was the initial cause of what was to follow.
Fence closed
The fence was immediately and rightly closed for the runners with the detour boards being put in the top of the fence for when the field were to come round again, but the doctor, who had quickly arrived, was able to move the jockey out of the track and safely on to the other side of the barriers.
Seeing the fallen jockey was out of harms way and the track clear, the Clerk of the Course, Jonathon Morgan-Smith, who was also quickly on the scene, saw that the fence could still be used in the race and shouted to not wave the Black and White chequered Rider hazard warning flag.
The detour boards were swiftly removed from the top of the fence and it was obvious that it was now clear. But the woman official still gave a half hearted wave of the flag and kept the flag in view thus causing confusion and so giving conflicting signals.
Flag Seen
Jockey, Will Kitchman, was still leading and just ahead of the pack and had clearly seen the flag, which he then duly manoeuvred his horse, Drom, to take the detour whilst keeping his eye back on the rest of the field which he now believed would also have to make their way over to the detour area.
However, Kitchman found that only he was to take the detour around the fence as the rest of the field obviously caught sight of the flag being dropped away and the fence clear. All this took place in seconds and as Will Kitchman thundered past his colourful language showed he was not impressed with the handling of the incident, indeed it had clearly put him out of his stride and momentum.
The race was finally won by Midnight King ridden by Peter Mann. Will Kitchman, on Drom came in third. Midnight King had to survive a steward’s enquiry caused by confusion over the bypassing of a fence, but I suspect this incident will rumble on for some time.
Facebook Picture Album
To see pictures from The Fourth Race, visit the Album on our Facebook page HERE!
