Breeding & Racing Magazine

Unruly Crowd Forces Cancellation Of SAf Racemeeting

In South Africa, the last 3 races at Clairwood in Durban yesterday were abandoned "after angry racegoers protested over the running of the sixth race on the card," reports turftrax.com. The situation unfolded when odds-on favourite My Sanctuary's gate opened slowly and she finished in 3rd place. Stewards declared her a runner and decided to let the result stand "in accordance with National Horseracing Authority (NHA) rules". The resulting anger of punters who had backed the favourite left a question mark over the safety of runners and jockeys in the remaining 3 events and, despite the presence of police on the course, a decision was made to call off the remainder of the meeting.