Racing: Stag proves dear failure

RUNNING STAG, who was supposed to use a minor race at Lingfield yesterday as a gentle stepping stone towards a valuable Hong Kong event next month, contrived to get beaten at odds of 1-3. He attracted over pounds 20,000 in three- and four-figure bets alone.

His trainer, Philip Mitchell, had boldly predicted that Running Stag would win hard held, but his charge was caught on the line by Brilliant Red, whom Pat Eddery had rejected in order to ride the runner-up. Oscar Urbina took his place.

Mitchell took the reverse philosophically: "He must have blown up and I suppose there is some sort of poetic justice in this as we nicked Brilliant Red's jockey."

Running Stag, the winner of two pounds 100,000 races in the US this year, had been expected to have more than a stone in a hand of his rivals in a race that had been specially framed for him.