By Brendan Rees
Police are looking for two hooligans who ran into the path of horses during a race at Cranbourne racecourse on Friday 17 January.
Footage shows a shirtless man sporting a mullet run onto the track as horses surged at the home bend during a night race.
The man, who had jumped a 1.3m fence and had been waving his top above his head, was immediately tackled to the ground by a security guard.
But the man managed to break free after a friend joined the scuffle and pulled the security guard away.
The shirtless man continued running in the wrong direction of the track while flailing his arms as horses bolted towards the finishing line – only metres away.
Both men avoided being hit by the eight horses – who luckily appeared unfazed by their intrusion.
Club CEO Neil Bainbridge said it was “unacceptable behaviour” and called for the “idiots” to be handed a lifetime ban.
“The club’s investigating along with Racing Victoria and the club will hold some discussions with Victoria Police,” Mr Bainbridge said.
“Activities such as that are unacceptable at a racecourse at any level and the club will be imposing bans on the individuals from ever returning to Cranbourne racing events and also encouraging Racing Victoria does to the same.
“We’ve got very good images of the individuals involved and we’re happy to identify them today.”
Mr Bainbridge also praised the efforts of security who “put themselves at risk by intervening.”
“It had the potential to be a … quite a difficult situation and the potential to cause injury and harm,” he said.
The louts, he said, escaped at the end of the track and ran off but the club was confident they would find them.
“We’ll come down as hard as possible on these individuals – they’re clearly not individuals that we need at race meetings.
Victoria Police spokesman Sergeant Cameron Scott said police were called to the incident but no arrests had been made.
“Upon arrival officers spoke to staff who informed them two people had invaded the racetrack but had left before police attended,” Sgt Scott said.
“Police have not received a report of an assault or any injuries.
“Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident and appeal for anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000,” he said.
