Horse trainer, jockey Todd Balfour fined, given good behaviour bond, for biting young woman at SA beach suburb on New Year’s Day

He has enjoyed success the world over by controlling the bit between horses’ teeth, but now this well-known trainer has been punished for taking a bite out of another person.

The son of a well-known SA equestrian family bit a complete stranger on the forearm, leaving the young woman visibly bruised, in a “bizarre and illegal” incident, a court has heard.

Former international jockey Todd Balfour’s victim has called for him to be punished for his unprovoked crime, saying “this assault is not something a human being does”.

Balfour, meanwhile, has told the Adelaide Magistrates Court he accepts full responsibility for his actions – though he has no idea why he put his teeth on the woman in the first place.

“He had been drinking with friends, had a good night and was on his way home when he struck up a conversation with this young woman,” lawyer Andrew Ey said on Friday.

“Then, out of the blue, he leans over and bites her … he can’t explain it … it was not out of malice, it was not to proposition her.

“He just can’t explain what went through his mind in that moment.”

Balfour, 47, of Camden Park, pleaded guilty to one basic count of having assaulted the woman at Glenelg on January 1, 2025.

He and his brother Ryan, 45, are the sons of former jockey and trainer David Balfour, who died in 2014.

Horse trainer Todd Balfour leaves the Adelaide Magistrates Court. Picture: Sean Fewster

On Friday, an SA Police prosecutor read the woman’s victim impact statement to the court, in which she said she now suffers from panic attacks and extreme anxiety.

“I’m worried if this man is in the community, if he can do it again … I’ve become a scared, quiet and not happy person since this assault,” she said.

“I cannot comprehend how or why a person can’t just control their actions … he bit me and just walked away, feeling like anyone could do it.

“This assault is not something a human being does.”

Mr Ey said his client had consumed alcohol excessively since a 2022 relationship breakdown, but had sought counselling and become abstinent since his arrest.

“He’s recognised that alcohol makes him behave in a bizarre and illegal manner,” he said.

“He’s attended three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and he’s motivated to remain abstinent.”

Magistrate Patrick Hill commended Balfour on his “extreme” remorse and “genuine” contrition, and for having committed to rehabilitation and giving up alcohol.

However, he said “acts of unprovoked and drunken violence” could not be tolerated, and the community must be deterred from acting as Balfour had.

He recorded a conviction, imposed a 12-month, $500 good behaviour bond, and ordered Balfour pay an $800 fine.