We shall not be moved! Worcester rejects calls for half-furlong marker adjustment after jockey receives 28-day ban

Despite four cases of mistaken identity in the last 16 months and a call for change from leading trainer Charlie Longsdon, Worcester insists its half-furlong marker will remain as it is following Elizabeth Gale's 28-day ban for failing to ride out at the finish.

The conditional jockey partnered Catuaba in the 2m7f handicap hurdle on Wednesday evening, but appeared to mistake the half-furlong pole for the winning line and stood up in her irons and eased off. The pair were picked off by 25-1 outsider The Bold Thady and Gale then realised once the eventual winner went past her, but it was too late and her mount was beaten a head.

It is not the first time such an incident has happened at the track. Since May 2023, Joe Anderson has picked up a ten-day ban for easing off on a horse who could have finished first at the same point, while Beau Morgan and Tom Buckley were warned by the stewards over similar incidents before riding out to the line.

However, clerk of the course Libby O'Flaherty will keep the markers as they are for the track's four remaining fixtures this year.

She said: "The course will be staying the same. The course inspector and myself had a look at it and were both happy with the layout. We do feel the markers look distinctively different, and the general instructions are we have to have a visible furlong and a half-furlong marker in jumps races.

"It's really sad what happened to Elizabeth, but there's not much more we can do at the moment and the course layout will be the same as it has been."

Catuaba's trainer Charlie Longsdon called on the course to rethink the current size of the half-furlong pole.

"At the end of the day, poor Elizabeth made a mistake," he said. "It's slightly funny where the finish is there as it's just after the stands, but maybe they could make the half-furlong pole half a size smaller than the finish so it's more noticeable.

"I was at Epsom on Thursday and it looks like they have that. While there are no excuses, it seems to be happening to a few of the younger jockeys and maybe we should try to find something to help them."

Gale is sidelined between September 25 and October 25, but Longsdon is confident the claimer will use the incident as a learning curve for her return.

"It's extra frustrating for her having a month off, but she'll come back stronger," he added. "Lots of the industry people have backed her and have been understanding. I know the punters are angry, but we're all human and make mistakes."