The inspection takes place at Haydock

John Gosden says Friendly Soul is all fine after Haydock hole incident

Horse Racing

Tue May 26, 2026 · 2h ago

John Gosden says Friendly Soul is fine after Saturday's Haydock hole incident and attributes no blame to clerk of the course Dan Cooper.

The five-year-old Kingman mare was having her first run since winning the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera Longines at Longchamp 594 days previously, but took a serious mis-step when travelling well in the Listed Hedge Of Oak Stakes at Haydock on Saturday in a race won by Dreamasar.

An inspection took place immediately and after a hole caused by an old drain was discovered all races on the round course were abandoned with only the straight track races able to take place.

The good news is Friendly Soul has come out of it all in good shape and Gosden was keen to stress that he thinks it was unfortunate rather than anything else.

At Tuesday's Betfred Derby Festival gallops morning he said: "I didn’t talk to the press at Haydock at all. I thought the clerk of the course was under enough pressure without anyone yacking on the phone. It was very unfortunate, very difficult.

"Interesting now is the pictures of the hole, it was very well disguised you could walk past it day and night. That’s where she put her foot in about six inches, but she’s fine.

Friendly Soul and Kieran Shoemark are in complete control

Friendly Soul is all fine after the Haydock incident

"That stick is 18 inches long and that’s gone in and then you can just keep going, then you could get your arm in it. It was silty ground underneath. Obviously it’s an old drain that’s collapsed.

"In fairness to the clerk of the course I shouldn’t think he was given a map, if you like, or a study of where those old drains are and certainly you could walk past that every day and never suspect it was there.

"To that extent it was understandable it happened. It was very difficult on the day, they are going to have to look very carefully how they handle the outer course at the moment. The track was in perfect order, but that was a well-camouflaged trap.

"I can’t go blaming anyone. The only thing I’d say in the past, all those old drains should’ve been mapped where they are, so that when a clerk of the course comes in he knows exactly where they’ve been.

"She was travelling so well, he hadn’t asked her a question. Fortunately he was sitting with a double handful and I think that helped."

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.

Like what you've read?