George Baker: I got absolute howls of abuse walking back in - it was horrific

Betfair's in-running market has seen some huge sums traded and lost after the impossible somehow became reality. In a new series called Room 1.01, we recall some of racing's most expensive defeats.

This week's subject: Cotai Glory

The horse

Frighteningly fast but not entirely straightforward pretty much summed up Cotai Glory in his youth. A 75,000gn purchase from Book 2, the son of Exceed And Excel was bred for speed and lived up to that throughout a colourful career for Charlie Hills.

He finished last of seven on his debut at Nottingham, yet on his very next start he finished a promising sixth of 24 runners in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot. He came home strong that day, although it was rather more pedestrian getting to the start, with rider George Baker forced to dismount and lead him by hand the majority of the way.

Cotai Glory: top-class sprinter over the minimum distanceCredit: Edward Whitaker

Cotai Glory then made all to win a small race at Bath, before showing more quirks when hanging left in the closing stages behind Limato in a Listed contest at Newbury.

He displayed the full extent of his talent when motoring away with the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes on his fifth start at two, with the helter-skelter nature of Goodwood playing to all his strengths, and that set him up nicely for a tilt at the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster.

The race

A most competitive Flying Childers that saw two challengers from Ireland taking on the quickest juveniles from Britain, with Cotai Glory sent-off third-favourite at 6-1 in a race full of speed.

The runners fanned across the track but it was the Molecomb winner who showed more dash than any, breaking swiftly and quickly gaining an advantage on his 14 rivals down the centre of the course.

Despite his blistering early pace, Cotai Glory was the last to come off the bridle and it was only heading into the final furlong that Baker started to ask for the afterburners. Cotai Glory did not disappoint, finding an even higher gear as he extended his advantage.

He started to edge right inside the final furlong, although to start with it looked nothing more than a minor deviation. However, with a seemingly unassailable lead, he shifted more drastically to his right. He was two lengths clear at the time but his change in direction caused Baker's saddle to slip.

Cotai Glory powers clear of his rivals inside the final furlong

He starts to veer to his right but still appears to be in little danger

With his saddle slipping, George Baker is thrown out the side door just yards from the line

Baker hits the ground hard to leave the crowd in shock

Beacon comes through for an unlikely win with Cotai Glory finishing riderless

There were only 50 yards left when gravity took hold of the rider, who became unbalanced and, with the line just meters away, Baker was unshipped at high speed and hit the turf hard, much to the astonishment of a heaving Town Moor crowd.

Beacon, behind Cotai Glory at Goodwood and outpaced in rear early on, picked up the pieces under William Buick but rarely has a horse looked more unfortunate that Cotai Glory, with more than £29,000 trading on him at 1.01 in running on Betfair and £25 matched on Beacon at 1,000.

The in-running comment

Cotai Glory

Quickly away and led, ridden clear over 1f out, edged right just inside final furlong, two lengths clear when swerved badly right last 50yds, saddle slipped and unseated rider (the fall was caused by the colt hanging sharply right, causing the rider's saddle to slip slightly and unbalancing him).

What they say

George Baker, rider

He was a typical, flighty sprinter with lots of speed, but it was all about getting him to harness his energy in the right way. He took a little bit of knowing but was very talented. Early in his career he had only two gears but as a three-year-old he was much more straightforward.

In the Flying Childers I just sat upsides the leaders but well within my comfort zone. When I squeezed him on to go forward, he put the race to bed, but as soon as I did that he just started to lug to his right. It felt like he was lugging to where they come out on to the track at Doncaster.

He was manageable and I was riding him through it but the reason I came off him was because my saddle slipped. He was staying pretty straight, but the reason why he looked like he was running off the track was because my saddle slipped and I lost contact with the reins, so he started to go right-handed.

George Baker's saddle begins to slip from the back of Cotai GloryCredit: Getty Images

It slipped because I had all my weight on one stirrup and when the saddle went it was gravity taking its course. You can't stay in the saddle if it's not underneath you.

The frustrating thing for me when I watch it back was that he'd absolutely hacked up. If I'd been aware I probably could have been more hands and heels but it's easy with hindsight.

I was pretty dazed and my first thought when I was on the ground was making sure I was A1 to continue to ride that day. I got absolute howls of abuse walking back in – it was horrific.

Mike Cattermole, commentator

When it's that far into the race, you're gearing yourself up to call home the winner and he was in total control at the time. You're focussing on him because he's the leader and then the next thing you know he's lost his jockey.

It came completely out of the blue and poor old George Baker went out the side door. It happened so quickly and so close to the line, that you've barely got time to pick up the thread and call who actually won the race. It was the perfect example of learning to expect the unexpected when you're commentating.

Mike Cattermole: 'You could sense the shock in the crowd'Credit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

It was a shock and the old heart was racing when it happened – you've barely got time to say Cotai Glory has unseated his rider, never mind anything else. He was clearly much the best horse in the race and for that to happen was desperate luck.

You could sense the shock in the crowd, you really feel it, especially at Doncaster, where the noise filters up. At the Leger meeting there is always a big crowd and it must have been a shock to the two-year-olds racing. It was certainly one of the biggest shocks I've had to deal with in a five furlong sprint. It was quite bizarre.

What happened next?

With age Cotai Glory developed into a consistent and dependable top-level sprinter. He returned to Doncaster as a three-year-old to win the Listed Scarbrough Stakes and the following year failed by just a neck to win the Group 1 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, with Baker convinced it would have been his day had the ground not turned soft.

Although not a prolific winner, Cotai Glory took his connections to France, Canada and the United States during a racing career spanning four years, rarely running below form. He retired after running at the Breeders' Cup in 2017 as the winner of four of his 30 races and £315,811 in prize-money.

He is now making his mark as a stallion, standing at Tally-Ho Stud in Ireland and is already the sire of over 30 first-crop winners including the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin winner Atomic Force and Coventry Stakes second Eldrick Jones.

Read more from this series:

Go West Young Man: 'He turned sharp left and over to the far rail – it was a proper handbrake turn'

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