Race horse Game Cove saved by 'miracle' rescue after Queanbeyan track escape down Canberra Avenue

The four-year-old gelding is happily recovering at a quaint property just outside of Canberra, enjoying the quiet surrounds of Wallaroo a week after escaping the race track and then dodging cars.

Drivers on Lanyon Drive and Canberra Avenue got the shock of their lives when the 500 kilogram beast bolted from the track, weaved his way through the streets and somehow wedged himself between roadside barriers for more than two hours.

All had been calm just minutes before. Game Cove finished fourth in race two at Queanbeyan and was getting a wash from trainer Doug Gorrel when something spooked him. He suddenly galloped away, and managed to find the only open gate to exit the track.

"Most of the time they just run back to their tie-up or run to a corner, they don't go far. This fella kept running and got out of the course, ending up three kilometres away on those big roads - Lanyon Drive and Canberra Avenue," Gorrel recalled.

It was a nightmare situation, and co-owner Glen Latham witnessed the frightening scenario unfold.

"I saw him get out of the hosing bay and I thought that's ok, the gate will be shut - but it wasn't," Latham said. "The horse bolted up McCrae Street and took a left-hand turn down Lanyon Drive to the roundabout at Canberra Avenue."

Latham and co-owner David O'Keefe immediately jumped into a car to see where Game Cove went. When they found him a few minutes later, they feared the worst.

"We saw the horse lying there with just one hoof hanging over the concrete fence. We thought that was the end of the poor beast," Latham said.

"But when we got closer it was a relief to see him breathing. There was blood everywhere. To be honest it looked worse than what it was, but in that position there's so much that can go wrong."

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

Game Cove had sprinted right down to the roundabout, then skidded on the bitumen trying to avoid the concrete barrier, and the half-tonne animal flopped into the garden bed next to the noise reduction wall. He was stuck. Properly stuck.

Kia - Gorrel's daughter - was first on the scene before Latham and O'Keefe. The licenced stablehand and emergency nurse had also seen Game Cove escape the race track and gotten in a car to find him.

She arrived seconds after Game Cove ran metres in front of a vehicle with two women and a young infant inside. As the stunned mum and grandmother got out of the car, Kia immediately knew that comforting the shaken horse was a priority.

"They were trying to work out what happened because this horse had come flying out of nowhere," she said.

"I asked if anyone had a towel, and they gave me an unused baby nappy. I said that'd be perfect and we threw that over his eyes to keep him calm.

"A lot of other passers-by stopped and called triple zero, there was an off-duty fireman as well who brought some of his colleagues, and before we knew it, we had quite a large response of emergency personnel including an SES crew from Bungendore.

"I've been around horses a lot and seen them stuck in tricky positions, but that was by far the stickiest situation I've ever seen."

Over the next two hours the group plotted how to carefully get Game Cove out.

With so little room to move, the horse couldn't stand on his own, and putting a sling under him was impossible too, so with the assistance of the assembled emergency staff and two vets - Dr Rebecca Walshe and Dr Hayley Lambe - Game Cove was sedated and winched out using a small crane.

"It's a safe practice, they do it at equine hospitals, they just rarely do it on the side of the road - so they had to apply that training out in the field," Kia Gorrel added.

Another two and a half hours later, back in a stable again, the sedatives finally wore off and remarkably Game Cove was able to stand and walk with just a few scratches and minor stitches to show from the ordeal.

"He is showing every sign that he's okay," Latham said.

"The number of miracles that happened for the horse to still be alive ... it's a relief.

"But we're not interested in whether the horse races again. You spend time with them and you get to know their traits, and when I saw him lying there I just didn't want to see him go like that.

"If he doesn't make it back to the race course, I'm not worried. We'll get him a home for life if we need and he won't want for anything."

Doug Gorrel believes it's likely Queanbeyan race track will secure the gate to avoid a repeat of the incident in the future - even if it was rare.

"Since I've been racing horses at Queanbeyan it's never been shut, but I imagine that will change because you can't have horses ending up on roads like that," he said.

"I'm just so grateful that he's okay and also nobody else was hurt, or property was damaged. It's amazing he didn't get hit by a car.

"You don't want to see it happen again - it could have been dreadful."

Gorrel said that Game Cove was not "naughty" but he does have a cheeky streak as a "goofy young horse" that among the stablehands earned him the nickname Bart after The Simpsons character.

Latham confirmed that Game Cove lived up to his name in more ways than one, too.

"We all thought if there was a horse to do this, he's it," he said.

"The term 'Game Cove' is from the 19th century and refers to a bloke that has a bit of fight about him, usually used with bushrangers.

"So when someone fought back, they'd say he was a game cove and had a bit of spirit about him.

"I gave him that name and it's proven quite prophetic."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: