ITV Racing star Chris Hughes asks punters ‘why are you moaning?’ after controversial finish to horse race
ITV Racing star Chris Hughes was left asking punters ‘why are you moaning?’ after a load of them were left confused by the end of this race.
Pepsi Cat and Emeralds Pride were involved in a right ding-dong to the line at Redcar on Tuesday afternoon.
The 4-1 joint-fav Pepsi Cat looked to have found room at just the right time under Dougie Costello and got home at the post.
Connor Beasley on 8-1 Emeralds Pride appeared to have just missed out, with Pepsi Cat clearly in front a few yards over the line.
It went to a photo but punters were pretty certain the Steph Hollinshead-trained Pepsi Cat had nicked it late on.
However, the photo of the finish only served to blur matters, with Emeralds Pride eventually named the winner by a nose.
Punters hit the roof and thought if Pepsi Cat hadn’t won, then it was at least a dead-heat.
One bettor pointed out that both horses finished the 5f race at exactly 58.88 seconds.
Yet the margin of victory needed to be decided by just a pixel, where it looked Emeralds Pride was in front when it mattered most.
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Comments flooded social media questioning the decision, but popular host Hughes thought it was clear as day.
In response to a load of backlash, he wrote: “Why are people moaning at this?
“Far side nose banded, head down. Pretty decisive enough.”
One person replied saying they thought people were looking at the wrong horse, mistakenly believing the noseband runner to be nearside.
Hughes added: “Yeah I think they’re looking at the wrong head.”
Not that that stopped a load of comments from punters crying foul.
One moaned: “Absolute joke of a result. Pepsi Cat or at worst a dead-heat.”
Another said: “Can’t believe I lost this. It’s a dead-heat at least!”
One wrote: “Hard to see how Pepsi Cat hasn’t won that.”
While a fellow Twitter user commented: “That really is a shocking decision.”
Tight finishes have stung punters in recent days, with £13,000 going up in flames on this 1.01 runner.
The money piled in for Joseph O’Brien’s Nurburgring and he hit 1-100 in-running only for the placings to be reversed.
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