Jockey Tyler Heard has spoken of his relief that a dog escaped unharmed after it dashed under the legs of his horse during a race at Epsom on Thursday.
The animal crossed the path of Heard's mount My Spritely, a triple-figure outsider running in the Glass Times EBF Novice Stakes. Heard, 24, recalled approaching the two furlong pole on the Jim Boyle-trained filly when the dog "came out of nowhere."
Somehow it missed the hooves of the horse, which was out of contention at the time but on the way to completing the seven furlong contest.
Jockey's account of the incident
"It happened so fast and I saw the dog about two strides before he crossed in front of us," said Heard, who competes in around 200 Flat races each year and rides out for John and Thady Gosden's stable in Newmarket.
"I was shocked to see it on the course and it felt like he went in a gap between the filly's legs. I was praying he was alright. The dog was so small I don't think we could have come down, but he was lucky not to have been hurt."
Course officials confirm dog unscathed
Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper confirmed the dog, which appeared to go back in the same direction it came from, was unscathed after the incident.
The stewards' report read: "An enquiry was held to consider the circumstances surrounding why a dog appeared on the track, approximately two furlongs out. The Clerk of the Course was interviewed. After hearing his evidence, a report was forwarded to the Head Office of the British Horseracing Authority for further consideration."
Race winner and reaction
The race was won by the William Haggas-trained debutant Quite Cheeky (7-1), who held the challenge of Astabuen by a neck.
"He'll stay further and he really enjoyed the cut in the ground," jockey Cieren Fallon told Racing TV. "He actually surprised me as I wouldn't have thought he'd travel so well on such an undulating track, it's just all on raw natural ability. He took the preliminaries in pretty nicely and he didn't really hit his top speed today, because he was having a good look at everything. I couldn't pull him up he was full of running."
But the dog remained the post-race talking point, as some people struggled to believe what they had seen. "Did anyone just see a dog ALMOST get trampled @EpsomRacecourse? That lil fella was quite lucky!" one racing fan wrote on X. Another added: "What on earth have I just watched. A dog has run on the track at Epsom. Why is that not on a lead?"
