Starter strips down to his boxer shorts to rescue racehorse from canal
An unruly racehorse had to be rescued from a canal after dumping her jockey and escaping from the racecourse to take a dip in the water.
Princess Lunar splashed into the water up to her knees but was recovered uninjured by race starter Kenny Watson who stripped down to his boxer shorts to wade out to fetch the errant filly.
The unusual incident occurred after the four-year-old dislodged jockey Tegan Harrison almost as soon as she entered the track during the meeting at Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia on Saturday.
She galloped riderless for a considerable distance before colliding with a fence, exiting the course perimeter and entering the neighbouring canal.
A viral clip shows how Watson and his team eventually retrieved her so she could be examined by vets who found no significant injury, but she was scratched from the race. Harrison was also unhurt.
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Recounting the incident, which happened on a warm day, Watson told RadioTAB Australia: “We were on our way to the start when the horse got loose. By the time we got around there she had already made it into the canal.
“She had stopped in a mangrove and a couple of barrier attendants were already there in eyesight of the horse but couldn’t quite reach her. We managed to get down there and she had finished her fun by then and let us catch her and walk her out.”
He went on: “The adrenaline was definitely going. I guess we were worried about what could happen but we didn’t really have much time to think. We just had to do what we could off the cuff and it ended up being the right thing.
“No one was injured, the horse was fine, the jockey was fine and we got a good result out of it.”
Watson later visited the doctor to get a tetanus injection after going into the canal because the water was stagnant, but also revealed he is not a strong swimmer.
“I am a terrible swimmer,” he said. “There was an element of what I was going to do if I went over my head but I’d seen the horse go in up to its knees so I was pretty confident it wasn’t going to be too dangerous to get her out.
“There are a lot of rocks in there so it would have been very easy for the horse to scalp some of its skin but luckily it was very superficial and she is good as gold, which is the result you want.
“There are a thousand ways you can get beat on raceday and I don’t think that ones been done yet!”
Some racing fans took to social media to praise Watson for his actions, with one clip of the rescue amassing more than 1 million views.
"What an absolute legend that guy is for saving that horse!!! Well done!!" a Twitter user wrote.
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A second person added: "Bravo."
While a third posted: "When you'd rather swim than race."
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