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Irish gelding Wee Frankie has died after a devastating fall at the Shojun Concrete Class 1 Hurdle at Casterton on Sunday that saw just two finishers and two terrifying falls.
The six-year-old had led for most of the race, passing the 800 and 400-metre marks with clear air in front of him.
It was a surging Ancient King ridden by John Allen that created a battle leading into the post and the final two hurdles.
Coming in tight to the rail on the final jump, Wee Frankie just didn’t get the elevation on the last leap, getting the front legs caught and sending the horse into the turf head first in a shocking fall.
Wee Frankie planted straight into the track with his head and neck while jockey Brad McLean was flung forward, throwing him dangerously close to the fence, hitting the ground hard and rolling into the railing.
Both horse and rider were treated on the scene.
While McLean came away unscathed, it wasn’t good news for trainer and the jockey’s brother, Jarrod McLean, who had to see one of his runners confirmed as a fatality in the incident.
Ancient King took the win for trainer Darren Weir in a drama-filled event that saw just two horses finish the race.
Street Outlaw was scratched before the jump, then Tremec took an equally scary tumble on the first lap, sending jockey Steven Pateman under his own horse and then into the fence.
Tremec was able to regather from collapsing completely to the ground, but barreled through the fence, breaking it and dashing away through the centre of the track.
Fortunately, both come away without injury despite the scary nature of the incident.
New Zealand gelding O’ceirins Secret was able to avoid all the chaos to come through in second place as the only other finishing runner a whole nine lengths back from Ancient King.
Wee Frankie snagged three wins across 23 starts.
His career spanned just over three years beginning with two wins on the trot back in 2014.
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