Stalls handler in hot water over incident with Invincible Army

A stalls handler was called before the Ascot stewards on Friday after an incident involving Invincible Army before the start of the Commonwealth Cup.

The unnamed loader was called in along with his team leader, the starter and a Racetech representative after he appeared to throw water at the James Tate-trained sprinter, who went on to finish ninth in the Group 1.

The inquiry report stated: "The stalls handler explained that Invincible Army had been reluctant to go behind the stalls and he had thrown a small amount of water towards the colt to encourage it forwards.

"He further added that the water had not made contact with the horse and that he was unaware he was unable to throw anything in the form of encouragement."

The stewards concluded their inquiry by ordering a report on the incident to be forwarded to the BHA head office in London for further consideration.

Commonwealth Cup: view the race replay along with the result here

The incident had echoes of another involving a reluctant horse at Chelmsford last November that angered horsemen who felt the stewards had overreacted.

Raul da Silva was given a one-day ban after he picked up a some of the Polytrack surface and "appeared to gently throw a handful" at his mount Sandkissed, who was refusing to go into the stalls.

The 100-1 chance immediately went into the stalls before finishing last of eight after which the stewards handed down the one-day ban for what they described as "improper behaviour as it was deemed to be an unacceptable method of encouragement".

When the Professional Jockeys' Association questioned that decision, Robin Mounsey, media manager for the BHA, said: “The reasoning behind the stewards’ decision to impose a suspension on the jockey was that jockeys shouldn’t be throwing anything at their horses to encourage them to load. It does not look good, and it is hard to know how a horse is going to react to having something thrown at it.

“That said, we always welcome constructive dialogue with our participants on rules matters. We would be happy to speak with the PJA to provide clarity on this matter.”

Stalls handlers, regularly faced with horses reluctant to enter the stalls, are seen waving blindfolds, lead reins and pushing the horse's backside, in their usually successful attempts to load them.

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