An audience of 5,000 people watched in horror at Hastings Racecourse Saturday afternoon as a spooked racehorse bucked off his rider at the gate and bolted into the photo finish booth where it crashed and somersaulted, dying on impact.

It appears the horse's blinkers could have come down over its eyes, obstructing its view as it bolted.

Seconds into the sixth race at Vancouver's Hastings Racecourse, three-year-old Private Mambo bucked off his rider, running south instead of east and smashing through the winner's circle.

The jockey was not injured in the accident, but a member of the race track's security team was rushed to hospital where he is stable condition. 

Races were cancelled for the rest of the day and the track is offering counselling to both staff and visitors who witnessed the accident.