Punters left speechless as jockey snatches defeat from the jaws of victory after unbelievable error

PUNTERS were left in disbelief after a US jockey mistook the winning line in truly remarkable fashion.

Luis Garcia looked to have Race 6 at Laurel Park on Sunday in safe keeping but eased up in the dying strides, dropping Whenigettoheaven into third place.

Although victory was not totally assured, Garcia looked to be holding his rivals at bay before he seemingly mistook the winning line.

There are two winning posts at Laurel Park and Garcia appeared to stand up at the first of them, rather than the second.

The Equibase comment for the race reads: "WHENIGETTOHEAVEN took over between rivals then secured the inside to set a rated but pressured pace.

"He kept JOHNYZ FROM ALBANY at bay past mid-stretch, shook clear under asking approaching the sixteenth pole then his rider misjudged the wire and stood up through the final sixteenth of a mile."

Garcia is an experienced jockey who has ridden in 11,379 races, winning on 1,617 of them.

He has a career earnings total of over £28 million but has only ridden four times in 2023.

Plenty of punters came to the defence of Garcia, with one saying: "The jockeys are human, it was a mistake. They don't get suspended and shouldn't."

That didn't stop a large majority from fuming, with one saying: "90 days minimum warranted."

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Another wrote: "The best part is, he misjudged the finish line and didn’t even try to ride after that."

Jockey errors have been a feature of 2023, including in Britain, where Joe Anderson mistook the winning line at Worcester earlier this year.

That ride came days after Rachael Blackmore rode out a circuit early at Kilbeggan aboard Lady Rita.

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