Doncaster delighted by 'quick response' to animal rights protest

Clerk of the course Paul Barker hailed a plan that worked after an invasion by animal rights protesters caused a relatively short delay to racing at Doncaster.

The demonstrators, in the pink T-shirts worn at last month's incursion at the Grand National, were tied together and had to be removed after they sat in the middle of the course before the sixth race on Saturday evening's card. 

Barker said on Sunday: "Following on from issues at Aintree, the senior management team at Arc put an action plan together and last night proved that it worked.

"There was no intelligence received whatsoever and the first we knew of it was a call from the teams out in the country saying they were walking down Rose Hill with a banner. They'd come through the wooded area at the back. It was a miserable night so the light wasn't great but we got cameras on them straight away and initiated the action plan.  

"There was a quick response from the security team and they removed the protesters from the track so we could continue racing. The groundstaff made sure they were moving them to the right areas. As soon as the track was clear to race, the horses were out. There was a slight delay to the sixth race but we were nearly back to time for the last."

Hector Crouch won the race run after the disruption on Carzola and told Sky Sports Racing: "We only heard about the protesters right before we were meant to be coming out. It's quite annoying, it's made me late in getting home."

The incident was the latest in a series of animal rights protests that included disruptions at the Grand National meeting, where 118 people were arrested after the race was delayed by 15 minutes, and a failed attempt ahead of the Scottish National at Ayr in April.

Protests are expected to continue into the summer after organisers Animal Rising announced plans to disrupt this year's Betfred Derby, which will be held on June 3. 

The Jockey Club has stated it is prepared for disruptions to the Epsom Classic and that "any attempt to disrupt our events will be dealt with swiftly and decisively".

Read these next:

Attempts by animal rights protesters to stop the Derby will be dealt with 'swiftly and decisively' - Jockey Club 

'It was like a war zone' - the inside story of the Aintree protest and how it was foiled (£)

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