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A field of 10 runners went to post for the Group One function on Rowley Mile, with win for favorite 5/2 Pretty Gorgeous, trained by Aidan’s son, Joseph O’Brien, halfway to the Indigo Girl trained by John Gosden.
Snowfall’s 50/1 shot was thought to have finished half a length over in third place at the hands of James Doyle, with Mother Earth eighth out of 10 runners under William Buick.
However, it subsequently became apparent that the horse that had passed third place was in fact an 18/1 chance of Mother Earth, the darker of the two fillies, with the lighter snow in the field.
While Doyle was properly sporting the pink cap and number nine saddle cloth assigned to Snowfall, he was in fact riding Mother Earth.
O’Brien admitted that his field staff had confused the two fillies.
He said from his base in Ballydoyle: “I didn’t see the race, I just heard it. Someone caught my attention later that someone had tweeted that they were the wrong fillies.
“I immediately went to watch the race and the moment I saw them come out of the stalls I knew they were the wrong fillies.
“Obviously I called the BHA (British Horseracing Authority) right away and told them.
“What happened was that our boys put the wrong saddles on the wrong fillies.”
The BHA will conduct an investigation before competing at Newmarket on Saturday.
A BHA spokesperson said: “Stewards have been informed of a potential issue regarding the Group One Fillies Mile at Newmarket today which has resulted in the two horses trained by Aidan O’Brien wearing jockey clothing and number incorrect.
“Tomorrow there will be an investigation of the stewards at the racecourse to consider all the relevant evidence and determine the course of events and what action should be taken.”
The bug was spotted by Twitter user Paddy McGhee, who tweeted his observation:
Mother Earth will likely now face disqualification and O’Brien a large fine.
Sky Bet is paying on both O’Brien’s horses each way as a gesture of goodwill.
Spokesman Michael Shinners said: “It is an unfortunate situation and one that does not happen very often, fortunately such are the ramifications from a gambling point of view.
“To make things easier for our clients, we are paying both Mother Earth and Snowfall as if they were high, so if you endorse either of the two fillies each way with us, we will give you back your spot.”
Betfair Sportsbook followed suit with Barry Orr commenting: “Following confirmation from Aidan O’Brien that the wrong number of cloths and riders were aboard Mother Earth and Snowfall in the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket today, Betfair Sportsbook has, in interest of our clients, they solved the race as Snowfall, Mother Earth and Dubai Fountain finishing third (individually) “.
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