The final race at Huntingdon was declared void on Tuesday after a withdrawn horse headed back towards the field, forcing officials to stop the race on safety grounds.

Eight runners went to post for the closing PricedUp Bet Handicap Hurdle, a Class 4 two-mile handicap hurdle due off at 3.40pm. But the Alan King-trained Blues Singer, ridden by Tom Bellamy, was unruly at the start and would not line up, so the horse was withdrawn and the rest of the field jumped off without him.

What happened at Huntingdon?

As the runners came round for the final circuit, Bellamy was spotted riding Blues Singer back along a separate track, heading left-handed towards the horses still in the race. The stop-race flag was shown at halfway, and clerk of the course Kelly O'Boyle called a halt to proceedings.

Chief steward Tony McGlone explained on Racing TV that Bellamy had been unable to get the horse to go right-handed, so he took it left-handed and back towards the runners coming round. McGlone said the horse was in the bypassing area and moving quickly when the flag was called.

Although Blues Singer was down the chute and clear of danger by then, the decision to stop the race had already been made, and the contest was declared void. All bets on the race were refunded.

Stewards to report to the BHA

An enquiry was held into the circumstances around the deployment of the stop-race flag. The stewards' report said the withdrawn horse appeared to head the wrong way down the track into oncoming runners via the bypass lane.

No bans were handed out on the day, but McGlone said a report would be sent to the British Horseracing Authority's head office for further consideration, and action against Bellamy could still follow.

For the full account, see the Sun report and Sporting Life's report from Huntingdon.