To quote the great Matt Hill, the start to proceedings at Geelong today was a ‘calamity’.
And that’s putting it mildly.
Race 1 was declared a false start after the gates appeared to open at different times – and that was after two runners had already broken through moments earlier and had to be returned to the barriers.
The drama started when I Am Soho dislodged its rider Brad Rawiller and took off through the stalls before being caught by the clerk of the course. It was later scratched on vet’s advice.
Thankfully Rawiller appeared to be ‘’OK’’.
The drama continued when another runner broke through, this time the Greg Eurell-trained Inspiring. Beau Mertens later returned the gelding to start again once it was cleared by vets.
Then the real drama started as the starter finally released the field.
What on earth is going on at Geelong 🤣 pic.twitter.com/kUHf9JAC6n
— No Morals (@NoMoralsRacing) January 14, 2026
“Gee, I tell you what, it’s a dodgy old start, I reckon this is a false start,” Hill said.
“They jumped all over the place here these horses, this is not a race surely, this has been a calamity. We’ve had a late scratching, a horse go through the front and now a false start here, that’s certainly not a start. They literally jumped in sixes and sevens”
“Oh yes, Havana Moon’s gate on the outside has clearly opened ahead of everything else. The barrier attendants even looking at each other going, ‘what on earth has happened there?’.”
Replays showed the gates appeared to open at different times, with jockeys quick to assess the situation and eased their mounts safely.
The officials, to their credit, moved quickly and the starter smartly decided on a manual start and the race was eventually run and won – for what it’s worth, Sussex Duchess for Andrew Noblet took the cash.
The starter was able to revert back to the automatic starting gates for the rest of the meeting.
