Watching Gurkha Friend refuse to race was distressing, says Karen McLintock

Trainer Karen McLintock spoke of her distress at the sight of seven-year-old Gurkha Friend refusing to race at Ripon on Sunday.

The son of Showcasing arrived in North Yorkshire in search of a hat-trick in the 1m1f handicap, but was reluctant to leave the paddock in the preliminaries and then, after proving difficult to load, stood motionless once the gates opened

Speaking on Monday, McLintock said: "A while ago he had stopped wanting to leave the paddock, but he always went with a little bit of persuasion. I had him scoped for ulcers, which he had and recovered from and had been good for a long time.

"He'd been good as gold at home but then the same thing happened on his last start at Newcastle and at Ripon he was as bad as he'd ever been. Usually he comes out of the stalls like a rocket so it was distressing to see him the way he was and the look on his face said it all I think."

A 39-race veteran, of which seven have resulted in victory, Gurkha Friend has been quite the stalwart for connections since he arrived at McLintock's Northumberland stable in 2014.

The trainer continued: "He was fine straight after the race, he walked back into the wagon with no problem and came straight home after. He ate up and was out in the field this morning bright as a button.

"I know it was amusing to the public but it wasn't to me because my horse is obviously hurting somewhere. It really wasn't nice to see."

Following the refusal, Gurkha Friend must now pass a stalls test in order to be allowed to race again.

It has been a difficult year for McLintock following the death of yard favourite Rockwood in a road collision near Market Rasen in March.

Karen McLintock with yard favourite Rockwood in 2016, who died in a road collision in MarchCredit: Les Hurley

Similar affection at the yard is bestowed upon Gurkha Friend, and McLintock, who confirmed she would scope for ulcers again, is fearful not getting to the bottom of the issue could lead to retirement.

She added: "I don't know whether he'll be getting retired from racing or what's going to happen yet. He's such a lovely horse and owes us nothing, every day I see him he makes me smile because he's such a happy little thing. At home we call him 'sumo' because he's as wide as he is tall.

"I don't want him behaving like that and not wanting to do it because he loved his racing, he lived for his racing and was always so hard to get past.

"All my horses mean a lot to me. I lost one in the accident a few months ago and this just sunk me to a lower point again. I don't want to see any of them uncomfortable, let alone hurting."

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