'I have never seen a horse so far clear'

THIS extraordinary race sparked punter meltdown after the winning horse was gifted a momumental lead before holding on for glory.

Jack Hyde - apparently named after the Fifty Shades of Grey character - went some 60 lengths clear in a bumper at Newcastle.

Despite seemingly out on his legs with a furlong to go he still held on to win the 12.50 over 2m by 15 lengths.

Incredibly, the race was an almost carbon copy repeat of The Steward's bonkers win at the same track in February 2021.

Sent off 10-3 joint second-favourite, Jack Hyde under amateur jockey and owner John Reddington went to the front early on.

No one looked at all bothered about trying to keep up - falsely presuming he would run out of gas.

But there was to be simply no stopping the five-year-old gelding, who kept on powering ahead.

At various points in the race those operating the cameras even gave up trying to follow him given the size of his lead.

The camera simply would not pan wide enough to include Jack Hyde and the other 13 horses in the race in one shot.

"Where are the others? They aren't even in shot yet… there they are!"

Despite flagging at the end Jack Hyde prevailed, with 10-3 Paddy Elvis in second and 14-1 Mister Noodles in third.

Punters flooded social media after witnessing the jaw-dropping action.

One said: "Thievery of the highest order. Love to see it. Went out hard and nicked it. Lovely stuff."

Another commented: "WOW! What a ride, well done."

One post read: "You don’t see that too often!"

While one Twitter user wrote: "Best thing I’ve ever seen."

Incredibly, Reddington said afterwards that next on the agenda for Jack Hyde is the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham.

Mind you, the horse has previous at the home of jumps.

He was sixth at 150-1 in a Listed bumper at the track last November.

An out of breath Reddington said after the remarkable win: "That was always the plan.

"We hoped if he won today then we would enter him in the bumper at Cheltenham.

"He's that type of horse, you just let him go out in front.

"I don't see why we wouldn't go to Cheltenham now - I just hope we get in."

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