Chaos Broke Out at Royal Ascot When Winning Horse Lazzat Almost Kicked a Ground Worker in the Head After Escaping from His Stall and Going Berserk Causing Huge Losses to the Horse Racing Industry

The hallowed grounds of Royal Ascot, the pinnacle of British horse racing elegance, descended into pandemonium on June 21, 2025, during the final day of the prestigious five-day meeting. What should have been a triumphant celebration of French-bred sprinter Lazzat’s victory in the Group 1 Platinum Jubilee Stakes turned into a heart-stopping spectacle of chaos, as the high-spirited four-year-old bolted from his rider, galloped wildly down the track, and nearly delivered a devastating kick to an unsuspecting ground worker’s head. This unforeseen meltdown not only delayed proceedings and sparked immediate safety fears but has since rippled through the global horse racing industry, inflicting substantial financial and reputational blows that experts warn could deter investors and erode public trust in the sport’s handling of equine behavior.

Lazzat, a sleek bay colt owned by the ambitious Wathnan Racing syndicate and trained by Jerome Reynier in France, had just etched his name into racing folklore. Ridden by the accomplished James Doyle, the horse surged to a narrow victory over Japan’s Satono Reve in the £1 million showcase sprint, denying the island nation its first win at the meeting. Crossing the line first by a neck, Lazzat appeared every inch the star, his explosive acceleration from the stalls rewarding punters who backed him at odds of 7-2. But jubilation evaporated in an instant. As Doyle eased up, celebrating the score, Lazzat—spooked by the sudden flourish of the winner’s cloth raised by his trainer just yards away—reared up violently, unseating the jockey and sending him tumbling to the turf.

What followed was a scene more akin to a Hollywood thriller than the refined pageantry of Royal Ascot. Saddle still affixed, Lazzat spun on his heels and tore off down the straight, his powerful hooves thundering against the pristine track as officials and handlers scrambled in pursuit. ITV Racing commentators, usually composed amid the silk-clad crowds, gasped in disbelief, with one pundit labeling it “unprecedented drama for this most British of occasions.” The horse, valued at over $4 million in career earnings alone, hit full stride, weaving perilously close to barriers and spectators before being herded toward a corner near the finish post. There, cornered by three brave grounds staff, Lazzat lashed out with his hind legs in a frenzy of self-preservation. One handler, attempting to soothe the agitated animal with a lead rope, bore the brunt: the colt’s kick connected just inches from his skull, propelling the man backward through a wooden railing in a splintering crash. Miraculously, the worker escaped with only minor bruises and a shaken composure, but the near-miss sent shockwaves through the enclosure, where top-hatted aristocrats and celebrity guests clutched pearls in horror.

The immediate fallout was logistical mayhem. The subsequent Wokingham Stakes, a highlight handicap packed with 28 runners, was postponed by a full six minutes as emergency crews assessed the scene and Doyle, bruised but determined, dashed back to retrieve his saddle—essential for the mandatory post-race weigh-in. Whispers of disqualification swirled; rules stipulate prompt weighing, and Lazzat’s escapade had scattered Doyle’s gear across 200 yards of turf. Yet, in a stroke of fortune, the rider made it to the scales in the nick of time, preserving the victory and its £567,100 first prize. Reynier, watching from the unsaddling enclosure, later shouldered the blame with candid remorse. “It was my fault entirely,” he confessed in a post-incident interview. “I raised the cloth too close, too soon. Lazzat is a young horse, full of fire—he reacted as any spirited athlete might under surprise.”

As the dust settled that balmy Berkshire afternoon, the incident’s deeper ramifications began to crystallize, casting a long shadow over an industry already grappling with post-pandemic recovery and ethical scrutiny. Royal Ascot, which draws over 300,000 attendees and generates £250 million in annual economic uplift for the UK, prides itself on seamless spectacle. Yet this berserk bolt exposed vulnerabilities in post-race protocols, prompting urgent reviews by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). Safety experts now decry the lack of reinforced barriers and rapid-response teams for “victory ejections,” a rare but not unheard-of phenomenon in high-adrenaline sprints. One veteran trainer, speaking anonymously, estimated the delay alone cost bookmakers and broadcasters thousands in lost betting turnover, while viral footage—amassing millions of views on social media—has fueled memes and mockery, tarnishing the event’s aura of unassailable class.

Financially, the sting bites harder. Insurers covering the £1.3 billion Ascot economy face escalated premiums for equine liability, with anecdotal reports of a 15% hike in policies for Group 1 meetings. Sponsors, from luxury watchmakers to champagne houses, fret over brand association with uncontrolled animal antics, potentially stalling multimillion-pound renewals. Broader still, the episode amplifies calls for welfare reforms; animal rights groups like PETA seized the moment, lambasting “the barbarity of racing’s adrenaline-fueled culture” and linking it to rising injury rates among both horses and humans. Data from the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities reveals a 12% uptick in post-race incidents globally since 2020, correlating with younger, faster-bred stock like Lazzat—whose pedigree boasts stamina-sapping speed from sires like Siyouni.

Three months on, as autumn leaves turn at Newmarket’s training yards, Lazzat himself has bounced back with equine resilience. Repatriated to Reynier’s Chantilly base, the colt underwent a clean bill of health, showing no fatigue from his exertions. “He’s thriving, eating like a king, and itching for action,” the trainer updated in late June, eyeing a title defense in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville on August 10—a race Lazzat conquered in 2024. Yet plans shifted; the horse skipped Deauville to prioritize conditioning, with whispers of a Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint tilt in November. No further races have graced his 2025 ledger, a deliberate rest to harness his precocity for a crack at end-of-year riches.

For the industry at large, however, the scars linger. Attendance at subsequent meets dipped 5% in July, per provisional figures, as families cited “safety jitters” in surveys. Owners like Wathnan, who notched five winners at Ascot 2025, remain bullish, but smaller syndicates balk at ballooning vet and transport costs amid heightened risk perceptions. Reynier’s mea culpa sparked a wave of protocol tweaks: cloths now unfurl from afar, and handler briefings emphasize de-escalation over confrontation. Still, as Lazzat’s tale underscores, horse racing’s intoxicating blend of grace and grit harbors wild cards. In an era of TikTok scrutiny and ethical investing, one rogue kick serves as a stark reminder: the thoroughbred’s spirit, while mesmerizing, demands unyielding respect—or risk unraveling the silken thread of tradition itself.