Knife thrown at NZ Cup runners

Geoff Small

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Addington Raceway officials are on a manhunt for the person who threw a knife at the leading horses during last Tuesday's $1 million New Zealand Cup.

Chief executive Shane Gloury said he had no evidence yet to support suspicions the attack was aimed at one of the cup favourites, Changeover, in protest at its controversial trainer Geoff Small. But he notified police and raceday stewards after a racegoer reported seeing a man in his early 20s throw a bread and butter knife at the field as they passed him 100m from the winning post.

Video footage Gloury has examined clearly showed a bright, shiny object flash across the screen from the inside of the course, directed at the cup runners.

"I've spoken to the person who reported the incident and he is in no doubt it was a knife. He said a security guard retrieved it from the track."

Gloury said they had a description of the offender, but he had been unable to verify reports the man was tackled by a security guard. "I'm in the process of getting footage from all media organisations who were there, and anything from our photographers which might help identify him."

Christchurch racegoer Simon Stansfield, who reported the incident, said it was the most grotesque thing he'd seen at a sporting event.

The man was clearly in his field of vision and was standing no more than 8-10m from the horses when he drew the stainless-steel knife behind his head and threw it straight at the passing field.

Stansfield said he confronted the man, who claimed the knife had slipped from his grasp.

Stansfield said despite his alerting a security guard about what had happened, the man was just taken aside, then allowed to leave, unescorted.

"I've seen English fans riot at soccer games but never felt as sick at what I saw – he could have caused a bad accident," said Stansfield.

Gloury said the incident was a major concern for the club, which had increased security by 40% this year for its biggest day.

The raceway had its own security but other corporate bodies also employed guards around the big marquees in the centre of the track. "I don't believe anything like this has happened before. If someone wants to do something like this it's not easy to stop them, but we will be reviewing our procedures."

While Changeover was in the leading bunch at the time, Gloury said he couldn't say that particular horse had been the target.

In the lead-up to the cup, Gloury said he was concerned about the possibility of protest action if Small still had his licence, with so many people fed up with the trainer's seemingly endless stalling tactics to stave off bans.

"But we don't know yet what this man's intention was."

- © Fairfax NZ News