Racing: Mann faces investigation over Plumpton mix-up

The Jockey Club is to hold an investigation into the running of a wrong horse, Trump Card, by trainer Charlie Mann at Plumpton on 27 September. It is the third time that a mix-up involving a horse's identity has occurred with one of Mann's runners in the last two and a half years.

Tragically, the latest case resulted in the death of Trump Card, who ran in a handicap hurdle rather than stablemate Investment Force. Trump Card broke both forelegs before the third flight and had to be destroyed.

Mann said: "Our horses always go on the horse walker before they go racing and, for some reason, when they were taken off they were put in the wrong boxes, so the wrong horse was taken racing."

Jockey Club spokesman John Maxse said: "Charlie Mann will face a disciplinary panel inquiry and we are, in conjunction with Weatherbys, who handle inquiries into the identity of horses involved in mix-ups, investigating the matter."

Maxse stressed that cases of mistaken identity were extremely rare. "There are 80,000 runners a year," he said "and in the last three years we have had just 12 cases of identity mix-ups. Until the latest incident all the previous 11 cases had been spotted prior to the race."

Since 1999 every horse foaled has had a microchip implanted, but Trump Card and Investment Force were born before the system was introduced.