Seven racehorses on their way to compete at the Poverty Bay Turf Club's summer meeting died when the horse-float in which they were travelling through the Waioeka Gorge crashed 120 feet from the road and came to rest at the edge of the flooding river.

Five men who were in the cab of the articulated vehicle were injured, two seriously. The accident took place at 3 a.m. on February 3, when the road collapsed under the heavy vehicle. It was raining heavily at the time. The flooding river quickly carried away dead horses and the cab and chassis of the vehicle.

Best-known of the horses was Fitnah, a top-class sprinter which had won eight races and £3840 in stakes. Fitnah was the star of a pathetic drama which centred on abortive efforts to rescue her after she was found standing in the middle of the flooded river. Ultimately she disappeared.

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Wreckage of float body
Narrow Highway Collapsed here
"Photo News" camera looks down steep side of Waioeka Gorge to spot where five men and seven racehorses in a £6000 articulated horse float plunged 120 feet into the rising river.

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Picture taken when river had fallen shows all that remained of the horsefloat body at the scene of the crash

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A quarter-mile downstream, cab and chassis came to rest on opposite bank. It was subsequently recovered.