Tragedy at the races as horse sadly dies after end of disastrous race that saw jockey smash through hurdle

THERE was heartbreak at Wincanton on Thursday when a horse sadly collapsed and died at the end of a disastrous race.

In chaotic scenes, three jockeys were unseated before the tragic scenes unfolded seconds after the finish.

GettyPoor Gordon had no place to go but down when Sami Bear jinked at the last[/caption]

GettyThe jockey slammed through the middle of the hurdle in dramatic fashion[/caption]

GettyHe was left in a heap on the floor but fortunately was unhurt[/caption]

Poor Freddie Gordon had no option but to smash through the final hurdle when in the lead on Sami Bear.

Freddie Gingell was unseated in dramatic fashion when two from home and Ivor Herbert also smashed to the turf at the same obstacle.

A total of five horses were pulled up in the 2m4f contest for conditional and amateur jockeys.

But the most horrific scenes were unfortunately captured on live TV at the end of the race.

As the camera panned round to see the finished horses, it just happened to capture Ben Pauling’s Torula collapse.

The horse, who had finished third in the race, suffered a heart attack and sadly died.

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The one silver lining was that all the jockeys who fell and their horses were OK after the race.

But it did not stop racing fans from expressing their sadness at seeing a horse sadly pass.

One said: “Really broke my heart to see Torula fall down like that.”

Another wrote: “Poor Torula, that was horrible to see.”

The six-year-old gelding had been sent off 5-2 favourite for the race and will be sadly missed by connections.

Chris Gordon, trainer of Sami Bear and Freddie’s dad, told the Racing Post: “Freddie’s grand, he’s good as gold.

“Sami Bear has been a bit naughty once or twice before.

“It’s frustrating because I thought we had the race in the bag and 99 per cent of time my boy gave him a lovely ride – apart from hurling himself into the hurdle at the last!”

Jet Marshall, a 17-2 chance, wound up the eventual winner of the Class 5 contest.