TWO RACEHORSES, ONE owned by JP McManus, are reported to have died as the result of an electric shock at the parade ring at Newbury today.

An electric current running under the ring is suspected of causing the sudden deaths, but autopsies are expected to be carried out on the horses Fenix Two and Marching Song.

A third horse which is believed to have been affected was withdrawn by its trainer Nicky Henderson after his daughter told him the horse went down in the paddock, the BBC reports.

Henderson said his horse was checked, as were others, but was alright.

Trainer of Fenix Two, Jonjo O’Neill, said his horse “reared up and we couldn’t get him back, it was like he was stuck to the ground. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in my life”.

RTÉ’s reporter at Newbury said that racing has now been abandoned at the track. He said that drainage work beneath the parade ring may have caused some sort of disturbance to an electrical current, but an investigation will be carried out to discover the cause of the horses’ deaths.

Racing at Newbury was initially to continue this afternoon, although the parade ring in question was not being used for the rest of the meeting.