One of the harsh truths of life is that you can make a list of things that can go wrong… and then something goes wrong that isn’t on your list.
The Princess Lunar antics at the Gold Coast on Saturday certainly fall into that category.
Losing a rider on the start line and galloping without a rider is not uncommon, but galloping, overtaking a fence to get off the track and then ending up in a canal almost submerged in water… and then had to be rescued by the track staff, who stripped off his clothes and climbed in to help… well, that’s another story.
Scott Morrisey, Princess Lunar coach, got a close look at most of the drama going on during the day.
Morrisey continued the story: “We were walking out onto the track and everything was fine until we were overtaken by another horse.
“I had a person behind, so we were almost sandwiched.
“She lost patience and started to lose it. We got her under control… then we lost control… then got controlled and Tegan (Harrison) and I thought… well, once we get off the track, we’ll be fine.
“Just as we were about to get off the track, she got mad. She just launched into the air… and I mean launch. She lifted all four of her legs off the ground and rose quite high… then sucked back, landing sideways and escaping from Tegan.
“When Princess Lunar hit the ground, she galloped. She just flew right out of my hand. I can’t hold her. I didn’t have a chance. The lead slips out of my hand, and she’s gone in an instant.
“When the horse took off, I just ran over to Tegan to make sure she was okay. Tegan said, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’ She was more worried about the horse than herself.
“So we went up the track to see what was going on… to find out what was going on.
“She went straight through the fence near the roof. When we got there and I saw the aluminum fence buckling and breaking into pieces, I just looked at Tegan and thought Princess Lunar must have been seriously injured.
“I thought you wouldn’t go through fences like this without getting seriously injured.
“We were out there and at first, no one could really see her. The barricade boys and track staff were there looking to help… and then I heard on the two-way street that she was on the canal.
“She went under the bridge and went into the canal over there. I went around and the boys were there and stripping. I just said, look, ‘go after her and catch her… but be careful. Don’t do anything stupid.’
“The horse was exhausted by then and they went to her. They did a great job getting her up to the other end because the water was about shoulder height for a horse.
“They did a great job getting her out. All credit goes to them.”
Morrisey is both happy and grateful to be able to report a positive end result today, especially in light of the circumstances.
“She just got a little bit of hair on her legs at a few different points, but other than that she’s fine.
“When I left the stables last night, he was almost full.
“It was a very good result.” Morrisey concluded.
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