That sinking feeling as seat gives way in race

Promising young harness racing reinsman Zac Chappenden looked all set to cruise to victory last night at a Victorian country meeting when the unthinkable happened about 35 metres from the finish line—his sulky seat gave way.

For full results and the race 3 replay, click here.

!!!
An astonishing finish to race three @AraratTrots, but some fancy footsteps helped @Zac21728221 avoid any serious trouble. It’s a tough way to lose, but both horse and driver are thankfully okay! pic.twitter.com/cQX1Y1xFFC

— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) April 17, 2023

Chappenden was propelled backwards and was dragged along upside down “by the seat of his pants” before deciding to “bail out” at the finish line. Scrambling to his feet, he then narrowly avoided being run down by others in the race.

“I can’t believe I got beat,” he later posted on Facebook.

Chappenden was driving the $1.70 favorite Burton in race three, the Ararat RSL 3yo Maiden Pace for his boss, leading trainer Emma Stewart, of Ballarat.  The race was won by the Matthew Craven-trained Bettorpatchmeup (Bettors Delight), with Chappenden managing to cling on long enough to be declared the runner-up.

Born at Redcliffe, in Queensland, Chappenden and his girlfriend Amy Cargill moved south in February to take up employment with Stewart and Clayton Tonkin.

It didn’t take him long to record one of his biggest thrills in the sport when he landed Like A Wildfire (Big Jim) in the G3 $60,000 The Weekly Advertiser Horsham Pacing Cup (Feb 26).

If that wasn’t enough for Chappenden on the night, he did bounce back to drive in race 6 and finish second — on a horse called “Hit The Track”.

You can’t make this stuff up!

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink