The high drama at Chelmsford could have been avoided if a new system for halting races was in place

Racing came perilously close to a calamity on Saturday evening, and had events unfolded differently after nine runners set off for the most valuable race of the night at Chelmsford, this column might well have opened with the words “Racing is still in shock …” instead.

The start of the Essex track’s 8.30 race was entirely unremarkable, but what happened next was, in the words of a racecourse spokesperson, “unprecedented”. The tractor used to pull the starting stalls off the track failed, and the gate was still in the middle of the home straight as the runners began to turn for home with their riders starting to stoke them up for the final run to the line.