Enquiry held after a deer dashes in front of horses racing at Newcastle

The animal ran across the track while the Best Odds Guaranteed At BetMGM Novice Stakes was in progress on Friday. The 1m 2f contest was won by the Andrew Balding-trained Level Look

Stewards held an enquiry after a deer ran in front of horses and jockeys as they competed in a race at Newcastle.

The four thoroughbreds Level Look, Asia Force, New Bay Star and Choir Boy were approaching the end of their 1m 2f event when the incident happened on Friday afternoon.

Jockeys Jason Watson, Pierre-Louis Jamin, Oliver Stammers and Cam Hardie were in the drive position and were yards away from the animal when it made a surprise appearance.

Luckily it was going at a fair speed and managed to get out of the way as the horses hurtled down the track.

The Andrew Balding-trained Level Look was steered two-and-three-quarter lengths ahead of hot favourite Asia Force by Watson at the finish.

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Acting clerk of the course Joe Gibson said two deer spotters were in position during the race, which took almost two minutes to be run.

“The spotter closest to the deer was a bit further along the track,” he told Mirror Racing. “Usually when they see one they radio to whoever is clerk of the course on the day. We have held up races when deer have appeared on numerous occasions in the past.

“We are aware it could cause something quite serious so that’s why we have the spotters and we are always looking at what else we can do.”

In 2018, two deer were spotted running in front of the field during a 1m4f contest won by Desert Ruler.

He passed the leader Luv U Whatever, with the post-race comments stating that particular horse was “clear when distracted by deer running on track entering straight.”

And three years later jockey Jason Hart had to swerve on his horse to get out of the way of a four-legged intruder. A report from yesterday’s stewards enquiry read: “It was noted that a deer ran across the path of runners as they approached 2.5 furlongs out.

“Having spoken to the clerk of the course, he explained that there are current measures, such as positioning a deer spotter in known deer crossings, and that on this occasion it was unusual for the deer to be in this location.

“The clerk added that this area would be monitored in future. The stewards noted this explanation.”