France Galop investigation finds no link between Auteuil falls

There was no specific combination of factors at play which caused a higher than usual number of fallers at Auteuil on Monday during a card that claimed five equine fatalities.

That is the preliminary conclusion of a France Galop investigation led by director of racing regulations Henri Pouret and Auteuil clerk of the course Stephane de Veyrac.

Having interviewed all the jockeys involved as well as studying film of the incidents – which led to seven separate fallers in the Prix du President de la Republique as well as those in two subsequent races on the card – the investigation found "no objective causes in common between the body of accidents. It appears that each accident was the result of its own unique cause and there was no general underlying condition which affected Monday's meeting."

With the exception of Goldkhov, who broke down on the run-in, the other five deaths were all the result of heavy falls.

The interim report stated: "The falls took place in different areas of the track and interviews with the jockeys concerned confirmed that their horses had made errors, and they did not call into question the condition of the track, which was riding soft on Monday.

"The inspection of the track conducted after racing and especially the fences revealed several impacts, pointing to horses having misjudged the take-off."

That view was echoed by former champion jockey David Cottin, whose father Philippe lost Poliboy in the Prix du President de la Republique.

"It was a bad day for our sport," said Cottin. "But it was an unfortunate sequence because the horses who died committed [jumping] errors, apart from Goldkhov. My father's horse, Poliboy, completely misjudged the obstacle, while my horse [Mister Bali] got the water jump completely wrong. It was nothing to do with the ground, it was unfortunately down to the horses making mistakes."

France Galop said that, while it does not believe the track condition was a factor in Monday's incidents, it is aware of concern among many trainers that watering produced uneven patches at Auteuil.

In restating that no budgetary cuts had affected its work on the safety and security of horses or jockeys, it pledged to introduce a new, more precise watering system in time for the autumn season at Auteuil.