Butler says no apology received for costly withdrawal at Lingfield

Trainer John Butler says owners in his yard have been left counting the potential cost of the mistaken withdrawal of his Split Elevens at Lingfield on Monday, having backed the horse to land multiple bets on his runners at big odds.

Butler saddled two winners in Senor Cortez (7-4) earlier on the card and Impossible Mission (7-2) in the last race at Windsor, with Split Elevens the second leg of the treble in the Free Tips On attheraces.com Handicap at the Surrey venue.

But a mistake by the clerk of the scales which saw the official take out the Butler runner – number six in race four rather than number six in race three – left not only the trainer out of pocket but some of the yard’s loyal backers wondering what might have been.

Butler said: “One of my owners does multiples every time the stable have runners and he told me this morning he was would have got around £4,500 with my three yesterday (if they had all won). He has two or three horses with me and that was a month’s training fees straight off.

“That has made it all doubly frustrating and the owner is still very annoyed about the whole thing. What I am disappointed with is that my phone has been on all morning and I have been offered no apology or compensation from either ARC (owners of Lingfield) or the BHA.”

Split Elevens was due to be ridden by Jack Callan but when the jockey’s mount in race three Beningbrough Hall, also number six on the card, was unruly in the stalls, the starter radioed the clerk of the scales to say the horse had been withdrawn.

In error, the Lingfield official withdrew Callan’s mount and number six in race four instead.

The stewards report on the night read: “An enquiry was held to consider the circumstances surrounding the incorrect withdrawal of Split Elevens, trained by John Butler, following an administrative error.

“The Clerk of the Scales and the trainer were interviewed. After hearing their evidence, a report was forwarded to the Head Office of the British Horseracing Authority for further consideration.”

Once withdrawn, BHA rules state that Split Elevens could not be reinstated and Butler added: “That rule should be changed. No question. Someone made a simple mistake but someone ought to say that horse has to be put back in. In my view, something like this should not happen. There should be processes in place to stop it.

“There should be an assistant clerk of the scales because these guys can be under a lot of pressure with lads weighing out early, double weighs and lads weighing in late from the previous race. There is always cross contamination.”

Butler said he would look forward to the outcome of a BHA inquiry into the incident, but admitted he may struggle to gain compensation for the eight-year-old’s owner any time soon.

He continued: “This was a race where this horse would have been there or thereabouts, but there is no race for him for a while now. It is annoying. That is frustrating, but what I really would be disappointed in is if it was brushed under the carpet.”