Nicky Henderson horses sent to wrong tracks

TRAINER Nicky Henderson was left red-faced yesterday after two of his intended runners arrived at the wrong racecourses, more than 100 miles apart, and were forced to be declared non-runners.

Higgy's Ragazzo was due to run in the Glyn Abbey Maiden Hurdle at Ffos Las at 1.20pm, while stablemate First In The Queue was meant to be ridden by Tony McCoy in the Racing UK Juvenile Maiden Hurdle at Warwick, due off at 1.10pm.

Both horses were sent off to the two tracks from Henderson's stables at Seven Barrows in Lambourn, Berkshire, but when they got to their destinations, it was discovered that both were in the wrong place - Higgy's Ragazzo had turned up at Warwick, while First In The Queue was 120 miles away in South Wales.

Henderson's representative, Sarah Shreeve, was interviewed by Warwick's stewards and the matter has been referred to the British Horseracing Association for further investigation.

Geoff Forster, stipendiary steward at Warwick, said: "The wrong horse had already been identified at Ffos Las before this horse arrived at Warwick and, as a result, our veterinary officer was already aware of the problem.

"The horse that arrived at Warwick was then scanned and the microchip did not tally up. It was all very straight forward from there onwards, as no penalty can be issued on the racecourse. As stated in Rule E (15), where a horse can not be identified, the issue is referred to the BHA for further investigation."

Pateese took advantage of the absence of Higgy's Ragazzo to win the opener at Ffos Las, while at Warwick, the race minus First In The Queue was won by Dhaafer.

Henderson ended up with only one runner at Ffos Las, but the trainer at least had something to cheer about as Kerada landed the odds in the EBF/TBA Mares' Novice Chase. The seven-year-old put in a good round of jumping apart from an error at the final fence on the first circuit.

Andrew Tinkler took her into the lead at the 13th fence and the 4-11 favourite was hardly troubled to record a facile success in the end by 21 lengths from Cobblers Queen, with Identity Parade 16 lengths away third in a four-runner affair.

In sunnier climes, Luca Cumani's Presvis returned to his brilliant best as he streaked to victory in the Group Two Al Rashidiya under the floodlights at Meydan.