Irish jockey Micheal Nolan was left stunned after his car was stolen at a meeting in Market Rasen on Friday afternoon.
Nolan had just one ride on the card, and returned to the car park to see his blue BMW 420 was missing, as well as over €3,000 worth of riding gear inside.
He soon realised that his car keys were also gone, and with no CCTV available to catch the culprit red handed, Lincolnshire Police are investigating while it's been established that no intruders had breached the weighing room.
Nolan lives some four hours away from the racecourse and had to hitch a lift from his boss Philip Hobbs in the horsebox, who he had ridden for in a 4th place finish at a handicap hurdle that day.
Recalling the incident, the jockey spoke of his 'disbelief' when he found another car parked in the spot he'd left his car.
"I came out after riding, I knew exactly where I parked it and when I went back I saw a silver car in the same space," Nolan told Racing Post.
"Straight away I was in disbelief, I doubted myself that I parked it there but I knew I did as it was by a hedge. Then I put my hand in my pocket to get the key and it was gone. There's been no trace of it since.
"I have an app on my phone which shows where my car is but that [GPS] was disabled straight away. They knew what they were doing and police told me they'd know there was no CCTV so they were professional about it."
He added: "I had £3,000 worth of riding gear, racing saddles and everything else, so that's all gone as well. I'd say that's the most annoying part as I'll have to try to replace all of that. I've had some of it since I started riding, it's like a builder losing his tools.
"I'm not sure what my next steps are yet, I'll need to speak to my insurance, but I'm busy racing so I'll need to have to have another car soon."
