Horse Racing: Richard Hannon uninjured in aircraft collision when landing at Haydock

Richard Hannon was one of four passengers on a plane that skidded alarmingly along the sodden grass landing strip at Haydock on Saturday, crashing into another plane from which Ryan Moore and Sir Michael Stoute had recently emerged. No one was reported injured in the incident before racing but both planes were sufficiently damaged to ground them until repairs are made. The course was closed to further air traffic.

“My brother was white as a sheet,” said Hannon, who added that he had not been scared himself. “I was more thinking, when is this thing going to stop moving so we can get the hell out.” But the Marlborough trainer was at pains to avoid pointing any fingers over the incident. “I’m not blaming anyone. We’ve never had any problems landing at Haydock before and I certainly don’t want them to stop us landing there in future.

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“I trust the people we fly with and this won’t put me off flying again; we just have to fly around the country in this job.”

A statement issued by the Jockey Club said: “The racecourse airfield is constantly maintained, was inspected before racing and passed in full working order, and has an operative based there. The previous plane landed reporting no issues whatsoever and indeed no pilot has apportioned any blame to the airstrip.” An investigation is to be carried out by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

One consequence of the incident was that Frankie Dettori was prevented from flying in at a late stage to take the ride on James Garfield in the Sprint Cup at Haydock but, as that horse finished well beaten, he missed little. The big race fell to The Tin Man, with Oisin Murphy replacing Tom Queally in the saddle. Harry Angel faded out of the places after helping to force the pace. Dettori still had a satisfying day, thanks to the comfortable comeback success by Enable in Kempton’s September Stakes.

Last year’s Arc winner had not seen a racecourse since her moment of glory in Paris, a knee injury in the spring having been the biggest problem. She won tidily here in a race that could not have worked out better for her, as Crystal Ocean, her only serious rival, allowed her an easy lead.

“She’ll come on quite a bit,” said her trainer, John Gosden, who reckoned she had been around 80% fit. Her Arc odds halved to 9-4 and there seems little doubt that Dettori will ride her in preference to Cracksman or Lah Ti Dar.