Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges estimated HK$160 million in turnover was lost in an “unacceptable” incident that saw race eight on Sha Tin’s Saturday card voided following a loose horse galloping the wrong way down the track.

As the runners were dispatched for the Class Four Lukfook Jewellery CCool Collection Handicap (1,200m), Matthew Poon Ming-fai was dislodged from Dreaming Winner, with that runner turning around and galloping the wrong way around the track.

Thankfully, the Frankie Lor Fu-chuen galloper stopped at the entrance to the stables and was unharmed, along with Poon.

The stop-race siren was eventually deployed to signal to the jockeys to pull up their mounts, but the race ultimately came to a conclusion, with Emblazon first past the post before an inquiry was called and the race was declared void.

For Engelbrecht-Bresges, the turnover loss was secondary to what he described as “negligence”, which allowed the incident to occur.

“We will have a discussion because we have certain operational procedures which should prevent this happening,” said Engelbrecht-Bresges. “It is very clear that you have a tape behind the gates and this tape should not be removed until the horses have gone.

“This was a clear failure in standard operation procedures and this is unacceptable – it’s unlucky, but you have these procedures in place so that if something unlucky happens, it is prevented.

“The turnover implications are around $160 million. For me, I think it is not about the turnover. I am deeply disappointed that we have practices and procedures in place to prevent this and people have not followed them.

“I accept that everybody can make mistakes, but this is not about mistakes, it is negligence.”

Although the jockeys should have pulled up their mounts following the siren, there seemed to be some confusion mid-race and Jockey Club chief steward Marc van Gestel explained why this was the case.

“The issue in this race is that the siren was activated quite late at about the 500m mark, and so the jockeys indicated to us that they were confused as to whether it meant an abandonment of the race,” said Van Gestel.

“They looked around the surrounds of the track to see whether there was an issue as to why they should pull up, but when they didn’t identify one, they kept riding.

“We’re going to have a review of the process and put in place mechanisms, work with the jockeys so that in the future, there is no doubt about what the siren means.”

Flash makes stylish return

Mark Newnham is adamant there is more to come from Crimson Flash after the talented sprinter completed a hat-trick with a victorious return on Saturday.

On his first start since undergoing knee surgery in June, the former Australian galloper continued his winning ways when Andrea Atzeni booted him home in the Class Three Lukfook Jewellery Diabling Shimmering Gold Collection Handicap (1,000m).

“We just had to stop early with him last season – he just had a small knee chip which we had operated on straight away. We gave him enough time and he’s come back well.”

Settling just behind the leaders in fourth, Crimson Flash pounced on the lead inside the 200m and kept on well to beat Fast Responder by three-quarters of a length.

The son of Showtime added the straight-track success to his back-to-back wins over 1,200m at Happy Valley at the end of last term.

“I think he’s got more to come, being able to do that first run of the season and coming off quite a long break,” said Newnham, who leads the trainers’ championship on 21 wins.

“I wanted to come to this race because in two weeks’ time, there’s a Class Two 1,000 where he’s eligible for the Class Two bonus, so we tested the water with him down the straight again and it’s worked. He’ll most likely come back on the 30th and we’ll try and get our owner the bonus.

“He’s always shown plenty. We’re getting to a level where he’s got to keep improving, but I think on what he’s shown today, he’s still got improvement to come.”

Japan’s HKIR team takes shape

Japan’s squad for the Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) continues to take shape with connections of Soul Rush, Embroidery and Bellagio Opera accepting invitations for next month’s showpiece meeting.

Soul Rush will tackle the Group One Hong Kong Mile for the third straight year, with exciting filly Embroidery joining him in the same feature in her first overseas assault.

Bellagio Opera will also make his overseas debut, with the two-time Group One victor set to clash with Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble in the Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m).

They join the likes of Byzantine Dream, who will run in the Group One Hong Kong Vase (2,400m), and Satono Reve and June Blair, who will take on Ka Ying Rising in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m).