Support for trainer McBride from owner of 'wrong' horse Millie's Kiss

Compassion and confusion were the mixed emotions felt by the owner of Millie’s Kiss on Thursday after his horse accidentally took part in the wrong race at Yarmouth.

John Mear, who heads the Four Winds Racing Partnership which owns Millie’s Kiss, was still coming to terms with the mistake which resulted in his horse, and not stablemate Mandarin Princess, running in the opener, but he was quick to express his sympathy for trainer Charlie McBride.

He said: “We're all very upset and I’m feeling very upset for Charlie who must be traumatised. I feel desperately sad for him and he must be going through hell; I could cry for him.

“I’ve been in the game since I was 20 and I’m 67 now and I’ve never seen anything like it. People not involved in the game will think it’s skulduggery, but no one has backed the horse. It’s unfortunate and I feel desperately bad for Charlie.”

Mear, who has raced the likes of Group-placed Audacity Of Hope with McBride, had been due to attend the races but felt ill, leaving him in the dark about the situation as he received second-hand information from the internet and a friend on course.

“I was going to go but felt ill and my wife’s ill so we stayed at home,” he said. “It’s quite unbelievable and I suppose if we’d have been there we’d have seen it, but it’s one of those things.

“We were sitting waiting for the race when my wife looked at her laptop and said she’s not running. I couldn’t get hold of Charlie and I was thinking the worst thoughts that she’d got cast or hurt herself. We called a friend who was at the races and he told us there’d been a mix-up but couldn’t tell us too much as he wasn’t sure what happened.”

The owners of Mandarin Princess thought they were being wound up when they were told their horse had not won the race after all.

John Millard, an owner in the syndicate, said: "They weren't in the paddock very long before going on to the course and both horses are very similar looking.

"We were pleasantly surprised by how she jumped and travelled and very excited to have won, as was Charlie. We only had what I'd call 'support bets' on our horse and we thought it was a wind up when one of the other syndicate owners told us what was happening."

He added: "We've had horses with Charlie before and he's a good, hard-working trainer. I'm very sorry for him, the groom and for John Mear. We're disappointed but it was just a mistake."

Like Mear, Kevin Ryan, trainer of the beaten favourite Fyre Cay, was also left to receive information about the incident from an unofficial source having not attended the races either.

He said: “I got a phone call from one of my owners who was watching the racing to let me know what happened. No one [official] has been in touch with me, but we’ll find out what the procedure is and then move on.

“I don’t know what the procedure for this is and I’m as much in the dark as anyone. We’ll speak to the BHA and find out what to do next.”