Scanning microchips pre-parade ring 'the obvious step' says trainers' chief after Killarney identify fiasco

Scanning the microchips on horses to establish their identity before they entered the parade ring would be "the obvious step" to ensure there was no repeat of the Killarney mix-up on Saturday said the chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA).

The John Feane-trained Ano Manna was disqualified from a handicap at the County Kerry track after stablemate Indigo Five mistakenly ran in her place.

The horse purported to have been Ano Manna started 7-2 favourite and won comfortably only for it to emerge 20 minutes later that the winner was in fact her four-year-old stablemate Indigo Five, who was scheduled to run in the concluding 1m3f maiden. Feane was fined €3,000 and fully admitted responsibility.