Poor horses.
Two racehorses have died after they escaped from a field in Dublin.
A group of seventeen horses escaped from trainer James McCauley’s yard in the Naul on Thursday, and sadly ran into oncoming traffic.
Most of the horses managed to return safely to the field, but two needed to be put down on humane grounds.
In dashcam footage obtained by The Racing Post, the horses were seen galloping down a narrow road, with the horses travelling at a high speed.
The first two horses were seen running ahead together, with the rest all running in single file. Thankfully, nobody was injured in the incident or no cars were damaged.
It is believed that the horses travelled for nearly five miles before they were eventually caught and brought back to the stables.
The horses escaped after they were taken to their paddock after their morning workout up the gallops and then taken fright.
But according to McCauley, who had to put down two of the horses as they sustained injuries, said he doesn’t know what caused them to get scared.
McCauley told The Racing Post: “They broke through a gate out onto the road and after that it was a bit of a disaster.
“We had 17 horses get loose and 17 came back, but we had to put the two to sleep on humane grounds. There was no damage to cars or anything. How there wasn’t I have no idea.”
The two horses that sadly died were Godhead, a recent Leopardstown runner-up, and Da Vinci, a horse that was yet to race.
The incident came as a huge shock to as he was at Gowran Park with his runner Mischief Star when it took place.
The horses have returned with sore feet from galloping on the hard surface, with some having cuts but their wellbeing will be monitored at the yard before they race again.
