Weekend to forget for Ivan Furtado as tragedy strikes at Chelmsford

Nottinghamshire-based trainer Ivan Furtado is still recovering from a weekend to forget which featured a wrong horse mix-up at Lingfield and the death of his three-year-old gelding Bad At Bay at Chelmsford.

Newcomer Bad At Bay reared over and banged his head severely in the stalls while being loaded for the second race at Chelmsford on Saturday evening.

The 7f race, which had to be delayed for 45 minutes as the three-year-old received veterinary treatment, eventually got under way from a flip start in front of the stalls.

Furtado said: "It was a weekend to forget all right and it's desperately sad that Bad At Bay died, but the vets at Chelmsford were fantastic and they did their very best to save him.

"He banged his head so hard on the stalls that he had to be given oxygen, but when they got him back to the vets' box his injuries were so severe that there was nothing else they could do."

Earlier in the afternoon at Lingfield, a representative of Furtado was found to have presented the incorrect horse at the racecourse stables for identification by the veterinary officer in place of Vive Audacter, who had been declared in the 6f median auction maiden at 2.45.

At an enquiry before racing, Furtado, the veterinary officer, an equine welfare and integrity officer, and the trainer's representative were interviewed. After hearing evidence, the stewards referred the matter to the BHA and ordered the horse to be withdrawn.

Furtado said: "The matter is with the BHA, so I don't want to comment any further at this stage."

Furtado was involved in a similar mix-up at Southwell two years ago which went a stage further when African Trader ran as his stablemate Scribner Creek and vice versa in two separate handicap races.

The trainer was fined £2,000 for that mix-up, which was discovered by the BHA sampling officer the following day.

Ivan Furtado career details

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