When Diamond Rainbow reared up prior to the start of the Exeter Handicap and struck his head on the barrier stalls, jockey Greg Cheyne had to shut his eyes and hope for the best. Unfortunately for the horse, the incident almost cost him an eye, with a barrier attendant spotting the injury just seconds before the start of race five. 'Initially I thought the horse was fine and was just about to tell the starter that it was OK, when one of the barrier boys said the horse's eye was missing,' Cheyne said. 'I couldn't see his eye from the saddle so it was lucky that he called out and I was able to alert the starter, but when I hopped off, all you could see was the pink of his eye socket.' He was withdrawn from the race, and chief steward Kim Kelly denied the horse had lost an eye, and rather it was an inverted eye-lid that had swollen. 'The vet has since examined the horse more closely and ruled that out.' Kelly said.
