Incredible horse race at Punchestown - Paul Townend and Al Boum Photo
145,862
Published 2018-04-25
Drama doesn't quite cover this at Punchestown and the extraordinary closing stages of the Grade 1 Growise Champion Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival.
After favourite Monalee and Invitation Only come down at the second-last, Al Boum Photo and Paul Townend are seemingly in control with the race at their mercy - only for the jockey to inexplicably steer his horse around the final fence and take out Finian's Oscar in the process as The Storyteller runs through late in the piece to land the spoils in one of the most remarkable races you'll ever see.
What happened? What was going through Paul Townend's mind? Our team of Gary O'Brien and Mick Fitzgerald look back at some extraordinary events...
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All Comments (21)
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Wow! That was crazy. As an aside, I love the name "The Storyteller."
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RIP invitation only soo sad 😭😭😭
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Is it anything to do with 2 red boards looking like red flags at the ends of the last fence.
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Yeah sure he heard a shout.. "Paul yer on yer own abandon ship lad"
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I still can't decide what happened. I'm not a jockey but I think I would've bypassed the fence on the left-hand side (if there was a valid reason). Very suspicious we've never heard a full explanation.
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R.I.P invitation only
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I watched this a number of times and still cannot believe my eyes. Did Townsend ever explain what the fuck went through mind!!!
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I've watched it over and over and over again I cannot put anything on this other than his done it deliberate and it's a disgrace, 21 day suspension small fine, disgusting, what did Townend have to say about this? Nothing? Left without comment, this needs looking at again!
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Gee was this a fix or what? thank the lord I stopped betting years ago as i always felt some jockeys pulled their horses up!
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Great commentary
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I wonder what odds you’d get on monbeg finishing second coming into the last straight/fence
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Amazing. I've made my share of serious mistakes but I was fortunate not to have them filmed at every angle and replayed endlessly.. I was really impressed by the way Al Boum Photo was able to do a hard right at a full gallop and take off like a bird out of the turn. Talented, talented horse, very athletic. And lucky jockeys, really; if Al Boum Photo hadn't been able to pull off the turn and take off like a bird out of there, he would have interfered with and possibly brought down more horses.
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73k was backed at 1.04 on Betfair...I wonder who by
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Watch from 4.06 and keep your eye on the men in high viz to the left of the fence as we see it. Yer man far left points to the fence and then Townsend looks back to see if it's safe to suddenly change direction. Unfortunately, he does not see Finnian Oscar
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Yep that was incredible.
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Why didn't they interview him?
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The more times you watch it the more deliberate it looks
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AL BOOM PHOTO Boom the gold cup
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watch it at a slower speed,he stops riding,he looks back and then turns the horse to the right to avoid jumping the last fence.Thre would be people waving flags telling him to avoid the fence,i dont see any.
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It looked to me like he had some grudge against Al Boum Photo's jockey & this was payback, especially as, apparently, he never spoke about the incident afterwards. It looked utterly deliberate.
