London National - the story of Sandown's controversial void race

The void-race fiasco at Sandown on December 7 began in tragedy and ended with wide-spread confusion after the deployment of a yellow flag before the third-last fence.

The catalyst came when veteran Houblon Des Obeaux suffered a fatal heart attack midway through the London National, collapsing before the fence that was to be the second-last a circuit later.

As the rest of the field continued, course officials decided there would not be room to safely direct the remaining runners around the stricken horse and those by his side, with the head groundsman directed to wave a yellow stop-race flag in front of the third-last fence.

In theory, that instruction should have brought the race to a halt before the field reached the problem area, with the rules stating riders must stop riding immediately when a yellow flag is waved.

Stewards hold an inquiry into Sandown's void raceCredit: Mark Cranham

Instead of stopping, however, seven jockeys still in contention opted to go around the third-last fence, before rejoining the chase course to jump the final two fences and complete the race.

This included veering to the left of the screens erected around Houblon Des Obeaux, which they managed without further mishap.

Despite a near 30-minute inquiry, in which time punters and connections of those horses who had finished the race were left in the dark, the race was ultimately voided by the stewards as per the rules in a yellow-flag situation.

Seven Sandown jockeys successful in appeals

All seven riders who completed the race – Daryl Jacob, Harry Skelton, Jamie Moore, Adam Wedge, Stan Sheppard, James Davies and 7lb claimer Philip Donovan, who crossed the line first on Doing Fine – were handed ten-day bans for failing to stop, although more than one of the riders in the immediate aftermath claimed not to have seen the flag.

Subsequently, all seven decided to launch an appeal through the Professional Jockeys Association, the outcome of which was revealed after a hearing at the British Horseracing Authority headquarters in London on Tuesday.

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