Racing – Wandering golfer walks to the horse path during the great northern steeplechase at Ellerslie

A wandering golfer stunned jockeys as he crossed the path of his horses midway through today’s $ 125,000 north steeplechase at Ellerslie.

But Auckland Racing Club bosses say it was a simple mistake and no charges will be brought.

Spectators from across the country watching, as well as Ellerslie’s large crowd, were stunned when the golfer, playing on the pitch and putt course inside Ellerslie Racecourse, ended up on the steeplechase course after a shot. misdirected.

He had hit his ball over a railing at the popular pitch and putt at Auckland Central Racecourse and went to play his next shot without realizing the horses were about to gallop down the exact same stretch of grass.

The golfer reacted about 50 meters before the horses caught up with him and all the riders could dodge him.

“We were all yelling at him, he was obviously more interested in his ball than the race,” said jockey Shaun Fannin, who was leading the race at Magic Wonder, who won New Zealand’s most iconic steeplechase.

“When he heard us and saw us coming, he started pointing to his ball to show us what he was doing there.

“But we just wanted him to get out of the way.

“Really, that’s something you never expect to see during a race.”

Ellerslie is New Zealand’s most famous racecourse and has not only a small golf course, but also a driving range within the actual track where the horses race.

That presents no problem on most race days, as the golf facilities are too far from the parts of the track used for flat races to be a problem.

But Ellerslie also has a handful of steeplechase races each season, where the horses jump large brush fences and race down the famous Ellerslie Hill, and those horses cut down the middle of the track using a different strip of grass, bringing them closer to the golf areas. .

The two found themselves in an imperfect storm today that could have ended much worse.

“The guy just made a mistake,” said Auckland Racing Club CEO Paul Wilcox.

“The golf course staff immediately put him away, asked for his identification and asked us what we wanted to do, but we are not taking any action against him.

“He just made a mistake and didn’t realize that the horses use that stretch of the track, which to be fair, but in some races per season they don’t.”

Respected racing commentator George Simon was less forgiving, calling the lost golfer an “absolute jerk” on his career call.

That wasn’t the only drama in the famous race, with four evicted riders and sadly a Perry Mason horse, who had to be humanely destroyed after breaking his leg.

That incident occurred just a few hundred meters after the course passed the golfer, but jockey Shaun Phelan confirmed to the Herald that the two incidents were unrelated.

Jockey Emily Farr was rushed to the hospital after a previous fall in the race with a suspected broken collarbone.