Horse's failed bid to escape on the M8

A RACEHORSE made a dramatic bid for freedom on the M8 – just hours before he was due to be gelded.

Trade Price had finished third at 20-1 hours earlier in the final race at Musselburgh's Monday evening meeting before he leaped into the front section of the horsebox. After its driver pulled into the hard shoulder near Hermiston Gate on the outskirts of Edinburgh, vets were called to sedate the horse so he could be cut free after trapping himself. Fire crews then cut through the partition with a special saw.

Trainer Ian Semple, 61, said the three-year-old, who has only been with him for six weeks, had been unusually spirited in recent races and that he had decided to castrate him. Semple, of Belstane Racing Stables in Carluke, said: "It does look like he made a bold bid for freedom."

Vets visited the stables to give Trade Price the snip yesterday, and Liz Semple, wife of Ian, said: "It'll take his mind of last night's incident, but he's feeling a bit sorry for himself now for sure."