Friction between protestors and the field

By Ben Hope
COALITION for the Protection of Racehorses campaign manager Elio Celotto says he will not be intimated by jumps racing industry supporters after his video camera was smashed and his car tyres slashed.
Celotto alleges a jockey smashed his camera as he tried to record a trial race last Wednesday morning.
“The violent jumps industry clearly has no regard for the horses it kills or the people it abuses. This is yet another unprovoked and aggressive outburst from the other side,” Celotto said
“We attend the trial events so we can record if there is a horse injury. It is something we do regularly, and will continue to do, as we suspect sometimes there are injuries and there is no one there to defend the horse.”
In January Racing Victoria announced it would continue with jumps racing after the 2010 season if the sport could meet a number of minimum requirements, including a 50 per cent reduction in fatalities and a fall rate below three per cent.
Jumps jockey Steven Pateman, a two-time Tommy Corrigan Medal winner, wouldn’t comment on the incident and said he respected the right of the protestors to have an opinion, but the way they were going about it was wrong.
“These people force you to go to their level by doing something that is very much out of character for me. People who know me would be surprised that I would do something like that.”
“They are threatening our livelihood and they are very much in our faces about it. Fair enough to have an opinion, which is more than welcome – and everyone is entitled to their opinion – but the way they take it to the point of being offensive is wrong.”
Pateman said he was frequently confronted by anti-jumps protestors who waved banners in his face outside racing events.
“It’s our workplace and having them there is very intimidating. It’s not only our livelihood, it’s our passion. It adds to the pressure on us before a race which can make it more likely to have an accident,” he said.
“They think we are barbaric and cruel and don’t look after our horses. I know for a fact there are a lot of people in this industry who would feed their horses before they feed themselves.”
“They are more than entitled to their opinion but they turn up to the events and preach to the converted. You wouldn’t go to a jumps racing meet if you didn’t like racing.”
Senior Constable Thomas Corrigan. of Cranbourne Police, said they were investigating the incident.
“A complaint has been made and we are in the process of following it up,” Sen Const Corrigan said.
Cranbourne Police will also investigate a report Celotto’s tyres were damaged while he was inside the station reporting the incident. Celloto said he returned to his vehicle to find his rear tyres had been slashed.
“This was an attempt to bully us from defending horses. We will not give up,” Celotto said.
“You can smash our camera, you can slash our tyres, you can beat us to the ground, but while you are killing horses, we will be here to publicise their deaths.”