The M6 motorway was temporarily closed on Friday evening to rescue a racehorse stranded after his horsebox broke down on the return journey from Wolverhampton. The horse, Lion Ring, an eight-year-old gelding, had just finished third in a race at Wolverhampton Racecourse when the vehicle malfunctioned, leaving him stranded on the busy motorway.
Trainer Andy Martin, who was driving the horsebox, described the incident as "scary" but praised the swift response of emergency services and recovery teams. In a Facebook post, Martin wrote: "Simba (Lion Ring's stable name) would like to thank all the rescue heroes that helped him and us last night. You were all amazing, polite, helpful, understanding and most importantly of all we felt safe and reassured all would be OK."
Martin explained that he had felt something was wrong with the horsebox and pulled over into a layby. After two hours, Lion Ring was safely transferred to another lorry with the help of Highway Patrol officers, AA Horse Transport Ltd, and E&S Motors Ltd. The M6 was closed briefly to facilitate the swap, during which Lion Ring remained calm and cooperative.
"Thankfully, Lion Ring is such a cool dude, he wasn't stressed about anything," Martin told the Racing Post. "He stood so quietly and came off the lorry and straight on to another one without any issue. One or two horses we've had would have kicked the lorry to bits if they'd been there that long."
The horse, which began his career in Ireland in 2020 and has had 70 races, was eventually transported safely to his training base in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, arriving around midnight instead of the planned 8pm. Martin noted that Lion Ring could be back at Wolverhampton for a race on Tuesday.
