A horse keeps running away when he’s in the lead
By Asher Fair
A Charles Town horse continues to run away whenever he is leading in the final turn, bearing a striking resemblance to what happened in the 2011 Indy 500.
We’ve all heard the saying that it’s never over until it’s over, and that holds especially true if you are a horse who is leading a race late and you make the decision to run away.
That is exactly what River Crossroad RVF has decided to do — twice in the last two months.
The horse who made his debut at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in Charles Town, West Virginia back in June has now competed in four races at the track.
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He has decided to run away while leading two of them.
River Crossroad RVF is undoubtedly a very talented horse who is a perennial favorite whenever he competes, but we can understand why bettors would be hesitant, as his rate of running away is now higher than his win percentage.
He became an internet sensation when he decided to do this back in July in what was his second career start following a fourth place finish in his debut. His mistake even made it onto SVP’s Bad Beats with Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve on ESPN.
It was so unexpected that race announcer Paul Espinosa Jr. didn’t even notice it had happened at first.
https://twitter.com/RaceCharlesTown/status/1281417619501912067
Espinosa later explained why this happened and how he somehow missed it live.
I’m sure the conspiracy theorists will receive this message with an open mind and an open heart.
— Paul Espinosa Jr. (@BettorCallPaul) July 10, 2020
As for the call of the race, just crazy. My binoculars were focused on the group of horses behind the leader, so I just completely missed it. Just another Thursday night at CTown! https://t.co/yyeQFsQeQg pic.twitter.com/8BsJ8pOrdy
This time around, Espinosa knew to watch for it.
And his fourth start last week, River Crossroad RVF made the same mistake (WATCH) — and Espinosa’s call was even more hilarious.
This also made it onto SVP’s Bad Beats in this morning’s edition, and it once again set Twitter ablaze.
Bad Beats
— Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) September 15, 2020
A brutal loss in the WNBA and another catastrophe at @RaceCharlesTown with our favorite horse pic.twitter.com/wwyMM9ntto
Notably, River Crossroad RVF did win in between these two bizarre occurrences, as he won his third start back in August.
River Crossroad RVF kept a straight course tonight and graduated in his first start since last month’s fiasco! Congratulations to the connections of this talented — but quirky — runner! https://t.co/epAC85AdmO pic.twitter.com/1JJ0vvjZNe
— Race Charles Town (@RaceCharlesTown) August 16, 2020
But as a result of his latest shunt, he has been barred from racing at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races indefinitely.
The Bad Boy of Charles Town made it back on Bad Beats ... 😑
— Race Charles Town (@RaceCharlesTown) September 15, 2020
We can report that River Crosroad RVF has been barred indefinitely from racing here at Charles Town. https://t.co/IdvqA3QwQ2
For IndyCar fans, this should bring flashbacks of the 2011 Indy 500, when J.R. Hildebrand could have become the first rookie winner of the race since now three-time winner Helio Castroneves won it in 2001.
In turn four of the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana on the 200th and final lap of the 95th running of the race, Hildebrand went wide in an attempt to pass the slowing car of Charlie Kimball and got up into the marbles.
As a result, he slammed into the SAFER barrier. While he was still heading straight toward the finish line, he was doing so at an extremely slow pace, and that allowed the late Dan Wheldon to come out of nowhere and win the race, leading only that final lap en route to becoming a two-time winner of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
Hildebrand still finished in a career-high second place.
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Hildebrand, of course, has yet to claim victory, unlike River Crossroad RVF — and he certainly hasn’t repeated what he infamously did, also unlike River Crossroad RVF.