Police looking to bag 'crazy' race fan

A police investigation was under way last night following an incident where a plastic bag of rubbish was hurled into the leading pack during the final race at Sha Tin.

The bag, which contained various items including a plastic bottle filled with water and an empty drinks can, was thrown from the crowd at about the 300-metre mark and hit the hindquarters of Billion Delight. No horse or rider was injured in the incident, but the culprit escaped without being apprehended.

The Jockey Club and police were last night studying TV footage in an effort to identify the offender. 'We have to do everything we can to catch the person who did such a crazy and disgusting thing,' said Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Club's director of racing. 'It looked planned to me, rather than the act of a frustrated racing fan, which is disturbing. We were lucky today that no one was injured, but it could have been serious.'

He added that the Club would consider offering a reward of up to $100,000 in an effort to catch the culprit.

Tim McNally, the Club's head of security, led a deputation including police and security personnel to the scene of the incident after racing. 'It is a serious matter and the Club would unhesitatingly file a legal complaint if anyone is arrested,' McNally said. He added that on-course security would be reviewed in the wake of the incident. 'We have 200-plus security staff at every race meeting, which covers everything from traffic control to stable security, but we have a large number who patrol the public areas. Over the next couple of meetings we will look at the allocation of security staff and reassess our strategy in order to do everything we can to prevent a repeat.'

Brian Kan Ping-chee will face a Jockey Club inquiry tomorrow into his conduct at Happy Valley 11 days ago following the overruled objection in the Millennium Legend case. The move had been widely anticipated after Kan's appeal over that decision was dismissed at a hearing on Thursday.