Vets did a great job caring for Band

We had a horrible time on Tuesday when our newcomer juvenile Hell Of A Band had to be put down after fracturing a shoulder.

He fell foul of an injury you rarely see on the Flat. It's the sort of thing more likely to happen to a horse who has a bad fall in a jumps race or one who does something silly in a field.

Shane Kelly said our lad was just about to come with his run when he seemed to put a leg down wrong. The shoulder went immediately. Shane reported he had been moving really well, so much so he was coming through to trouble the judge, which he wouldn't have been doing had there been a pre-existing problem.

Naturally, the first thing I did was run down to the horse. The vets who were with him did a great job. They must have had a painkiller inside him within about 30 seconds. He was then put to sleep inside a couple of minutes.

One consolation is I can say with certainty the horse showed no signs of distress. He wasn't blowing hard and was just standing there quietly. I actually remember when I broke my leg going into a state of shock that masked any pain. In some ways, a bang on the elbow can feel worse than a fracture, at least in the early stages.

My next job was to find Hell Of A Band's owner-breeder Peter Crane. For Peter, the sadness was heightened by the fact this horse was the last line of an old family he bred. Luckily Angus Loughran, who knows him, helped me out by spending time with Peter and his wife while I was with the horse.

I had recently been moaning to myself and others about the number of seconds we've been having. Hell Of A Band's death put all that into perspective.

We are operating at a strike rate of 12 per cent but when you add in our 57 seconds to the 36 winners (as I write this on Friday morning) you can see nearly one in three of our runners have been finishing in the first two.

But for what happened on Tuesday, I'm sure Hell Of A Band would have added to our winning tally before long.

Balding's Sussex shout was sublime

I've never seen the ground as bad at Glorious Goodwood as it became this week. It has sometimes been similarly soft at the track's October meeting, as you might expect, but never at this time of year.

The ground conditions obviously impacted on the big race of the meeting, but what a fabulous shout it was from Andrew Balding, Fitri Hay and her racing manager, Alex Cole, to run Here Comes When in the Sussex Stakes.

This is a seven-year-old gelding who also had an entry in the valuable mile handicap on Friday but instead connections went the brave route. It turned out to be the wise route as well.

William Buick did not enjoy an easy time on Ribchester in the closing stages of the Sussex StakesCredit: Alan Crowhurst

William Buick would probably ride the race a different way on Ribchester if he could. I'm not slagging him off as there were plenty of races I wish I could have had a second crack at too. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I also remember when Reel Buddy won the Sussex in testing conditions five horses passed the line almost as one. It was a very similar finish to the one we saw on Wednesday. Soft ground can do that.

Stewards were right to make a point

In the first race of Glorious Goodwood the stewards did something I've seen them do in the past. They laid their cards on the table by disqualifying Dark Red due to interference he caused in the closing stages.

It would have been lovely for Dark Red's owner, Ronnie Arculli, to have a winner at Goodwood – and even worse than losing is when they actually take a winner away from you.

However, due to the nature of the racecourse, it would always be a risky move for officials to turn a blind eye at Goodwood. Jockeys soon get a feeling for what they can and cannot get away with out on the track.

Fabricate (right) was awarded Glorious Goodwood's opening race after suffering interference from Dark RedCredit: Mark Cranham

Had the stewards chosen not to amend the result we might have seen leaders squeezing up horses throughout the meeting, with jockeys simply getting bans of one or two days. The outcome would have been very messy races.

I say all this despite having had £20 on Dark Red at 20-1. As soon as they went past the post I said he would be thrown out. Maybe I was the one who put the mockers on him!

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