Sometimes things go to plan and sometimes they don't. The latter is unfortunately what happened when it was time for Katalyst to go in the stalls on Tuesday evening for her debut race.

Everything had in fact gone to plan up until that point, with Katalyst's owners for the day meeting up with trainer Chris Grassick and getting the chance to get up close with Katalyst in the parade ring.


Katalyst's owners and trainer Chris Grassick at Newbury

Our two-year-old filly was in good form as she headed down to the starting stalls, but when she got down there and it was time to go in, she became a little reluctant. This isn't unusual behaviour for racehorses, especially the younger and less experienced, and usually all it takes is a little help from the stall handlers to get them in.

After a couple of attempts, Katalyst was still not playing ball, so the handlers decided to try put a hood on her which is meant to try help them relax, however, this had the opposite affect on our filly and she ended up unseating jockey Connor Planas. After that incident, there was no choice but for her to be withdrawn from the race.

Both Katalyst and Connor were perfectly fine afterwards, but obviously it was a disappointing end to what had been a fantastic day up until that point for all involved. Katalyst will now have to pass another stalls test to be eligible to run again, which trainer Chris hopes she should pass without any further issues, and all being well she could head back to Newbury on the 10th July.

Check out the video send to us by Chris to get his full take on the day.