SANDRACER.COM - Drama At Wolverhampton AW

There was a bit of drama at the Wolverhampton all-weather racetrack today.

The Pontin's Book Early Price Promise Amateur Riders Handicap was halted not long after the start of the race because Brendan Powell's Thyolo collapsed to the floor inside the first furlong. The unshipped jockey Laura Gray was carried away concious by medical staff on a stretcher, straight to hospital.

All of the other riders had to pull up their mounts before completing the first circuit because Powell's gelding Thyolo was laying prostrate on the course. All bets were refunded after the race was declared void and following a stewards' inquiry, Emma-Jane Jenkins, the rider of Lady's Law, was handed a seven-day ban for careless riding.

Clerk of the course Gemma Charrington told At The Races: "Laura Gray has just been taken to hospital and is conscious. Unfortunately, the horse (thyolo) had to be humanely destroyed."