THIS is the terrifying moment a groundsman saw his life flash before his eyes when horses charged at him at the start of a race.
Chaos descended on French track Cagnes-sur-Mer when the starter totally lost control and allowed 16 runners to set off.
In harrowing scenes reminiscent of the groundsman who got run over at Carlisle in October, the man in France looked helpless as the 500kg beasts bolted at him.
Fortunately he was able to escape to the safety of the rail just in time.
But even then another loose horse nearly jumped into him as all hell broke loose.
Three horses failed to start and another rider nearly fell off.
The starter was meant to have waved his red flag to signal all the jockeys to stop their horses.
But they did so too late, meaning a siren had to be rung instead telling riders to pull their mounts up.
Grand National legend Mick Fitzgerald and former Flat jockey Freddy Tylicki were among those in the Sky Sports Racing studios left stunned by what they had seen.
Tylicki, who was left in a wheelchair after a fall at Kempton in October 2016, said: "Hey! Hey! Hey! It's a disaster."
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Fitzgerald added: "The guy who's in front of the horses – he's like a bullfighter. He almost gets run over!
"There's a red flag that means stop but the jockeys can't see it."
Punters were left just as shocked by the shambolic series of failings.
One said: "What have I just seen?"
Another commented: "Should have the Benny Hill music attached to this. Jeeze!"
One punter said the whole debacle was 'terrible' while another wrote on X: "Is it really that hard to start a race?"
The extended 2m1f handicap hurdle was eventually won by 11-1 Jolifou De Guye.
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