'We want to find out how it happened' - van hits two runners in scary incident

Two horses were hit by a van in a dramatic incident at Compiegne on Tuesday when cantering to the start of a race, which one of the horses went on to win but left the other requiring vets assistance.

John Locke, who is trained by the husband-and-wife team of Christian and Sophie Leech, and Happyday were heading across the track to the start of the opening 2m3f hurdle when they were hit by what appeared to be a maintenance van.

John Locke's rider Gaetan Masure was unseated in the incident, while Happyday's rider James Reveley just managed to remain in the saddle and the pair took part in the race.

Happyday won by a length under Reveley, but John Locke was withdrawn and remains in France under supervision overnight.

Christian Leech said: "He sustained a cut to one of his legs, so the vets want him to stay in France overnight and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't turn into an infection in the area near his joint.

"He seemed okay straight after and was galloping around. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but it needs to be assessed across the next 24 hours.

"Gaetan was a bit shaken up afterwards as it's not something you'd expect. He was a bit sore but able to walk back in and in the end seemed fine."

How the incident was able to happen has yet to be established, but Leech believes the van should not have been driving so closely to the horses.

"It was odd that he was going so slowly across the path," he said. "Gaetan is a pretty senior jockey and James was right behind, so it's clear they were in the right place and the van was not.

"It's not something you expect to happen. We're looking to find out from Compiegne and France Galop how the situation occurred. Going over there is extremely costly and for a horse to sustain an injury and not know when he'll be racing again is pretty frustrating."

Happyday's trainer Daniela Mele also saddled the runner-up, Capodimonte, while Leech's other runner Mcgroarty finished last of the 12 who finished.

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