Lion Ring had finished third to Midnight Call in division one of the Make The Move To Midnite Classified Stakes on Friday before his horsebox malfunctioned on the motorway
A trainer has praised the “rescue heroes” who helped his stranded racehorse after a third-placed finish at Wolverhampton.
Lion Ring competed in division one of the Make The Move To Midnite Classified Stakes on Friday at 5pm and was loaded onto the horsebox for the 77-mile journey home to his training base in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. However the trip was halted when the vehicle malfunctioned on the M6, which had to be shut so the eight-year-old gelding could be moved into another lorry.
“Simba (stable name for Lion Ring) would like to thank all the rescue heroes that helped him and us last night,” Martin wrote on Facebook.
“You were all amazing, polite, helpful, understanding and most importantly of all we felt safe and reassured all would be OK.
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“Scary being on the side of a very busy M6 and even weirder when it was all quiet when they closed it for the swap over with Simba…. who to be fair was a complete pro! Just another adventure with Andy Martin Racing.
“Huge Thank you to the first on the scene to our Highway Patrol Officers followed by AA Horse Transport Ltd and then E&S Motors Ltd for being awesome and taking us back home.”
Martin told the Racing Post that the hard shoulder was being used so he had to pull over in a layby when he felt there was something wrong with the horsebox. After two hours, five-time winner Lion Ring was back on the road again – and he could be back at the Midlands venue for a race on Tuesday.
“I was driving, and it wasn’t a great feeling at all when it happened,” he said. “We were meant to get back about 8pm, instead we got back about midnight.
“Thankfully, Lion Ring is such a cool dude, he wasn’t stressed about anything. He was amazing, he stood so quietly and came off the lorry and straight on to another one without any issue. One or two horses we’ve had would have kicked the lorry to bits if they’d been there that long.”
Lion Ring has had 70 races during his career, which began in a Dundalk maiden in 2020, when he was based in Ireland.
He has been with Martin, his fifth trainer, since February 2023 and the sprinter’s last success was recorded at Chelmsford in October 2024.
