RACING:THE ELECTRICITY cable that is believed to have caused the death of two horses at Newbury on Saturday could have been leaking power into the track's paddock as long ago as last September, according to William Muir, a local trainer.

Muir told BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday evening that Island Sunset, a filly from his yard, showed signs of distress before she was due to take part in a race at Newbury on September 18th. The incident occurred at the same part of the enclosure where Fenix Two and Marching Song collapsed and died shortly before the first scheduled race three days ago.

“For some unapparent reason, she got very upset and started to throw herself around,” Muir said. “It may be coincidence, it may have been something very different because horses can get upset on any racecourse at any time. But she’s a filly who’s been very relaxed in every race before and every race after. I put it to Newbury (today) and they took it on board.”

Several meetings have taken place at the track since September, including the Hennessy Gold Cup and Challow Hurdle.

The totesport Trophy card will now be staged on Friday, pending approval from the British Horseracing Authority, which is awaiting the results of postmortem examinations on the two horses who died.

The BHA also requires confirmation from Southern Electric that the track is safe. The fixture moved to Friday at the request of Channel 4, which will broadcast it.