- Monday’s 14.04 race at Craon in France was disrupted by a parked vehicle
- A white car was left in the middle of the track just before the 14th of 16 fences
- Fortunately, all seven horses missed the car and cleared the fence safely
A handicap race at Craon in France on Monday briefly descended into chaos after a parked car was left in the middle of the track on the approach to a fence.
Luckily, all seven horses avoided the vehicle and cleared the fence – which was No 14 of 16 – cleanly but only after multiple jockeys were forced to take evasive action.
Axel Lepage, aboard the clear leader J’Irai Loin, stayed well away of the car, passing to its left side.
But three horses – including eventual winner Bojack Horseman, ridden by Valentin Morin – had to swerve to the right to avoid the obstacle.
Footage of the incident was posted to X (formerly Twitter) by At The Races, alongside the caption: ‘Parking ticket, surely!’
A race at Craon in France on Monday was disrupted by a parked car in the middle of the track
Multiple jockeys needed to swerve around the car as they approached the 14th of 16 fences
Fortunately, all seven horses and jockeys avoided the car and then cleared the fence safely
The race was won by Bojack Horseman, ridden by Valentin Morin (pictured, left, in pink)
This was not the first instance of a four-wheeled vehicle interfering with a race in France.
Back in 2022, two horses were struck by a moving van at Compiegne while cantering to the start of a race.
One of the horses required assistance from a vet, but was later able to successfully resume its racing career.
Meanwhile, the other went on to finish in first place.
