Melbourne Cup carnage you don’t see on TV
IT’S not all glitz and glam. With a nasty punch-up, a woman pushing over a cop, and punter passed out, yesterday’s Melbourne Cup turned ugly fast.
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EVERYONE comes to watch the horses, but when the final race is done and dusted, the crowd at Flemington really lets loose.
Unfortunately, it’s not just weary barefoot ladies and passed out punters on the lawn, sometimes the scene at Melbourne Cup takes a turn for the worse and leaves the nation in a state of cultural cringe. This year was no exception.
By 4.30pm, before the final race for the day had kicked off, a violent punch-up broke out in front of the stands in the general admission section, with several men and a few women involved in the brawl. One man had blood streaming from his head as he was restrained by an officer.
The nasty scuffle, which had to be broken up by up to 10 police officers, was captured on camera by news.com.au and reveals just how rough things can get when racegoers have been drinking in the sun since 10am.
Most involved in the fight were swiftly ejected by security guards, who worked quickly to maintain order.
In a separate incident, a woman pushed over a police officer who was about to tell the media how well the Melbourne Cup crowd had behaved.
The 25-year-old woman is expected to be charged with assaulting police after she shoved Inspector Stephen Cooper over while he was on the phone before speaking to journalists.
“She just walked up to me, I thought, what’s she’s doing, just coming to say hello or something? Clearly not,” he told reporters.
Drunk, but unquestionably more peaceful, were the hordes of punters passed out among the cigarette butts, broken plastic cups and discarded clothing items. One young woman leaving The Birdcage stumbled into a bush and had to be retrieved by a bemused girlfriend.
Staff members were already working quickly to clean the debris, but they were fighting an uphill battle against the thousands of seagulls, who got the hot tip on the leftovers and descended upon Flemington to feast.
A more upbeat moment was witnessing a young boy taking advantage of the air of anarchy post-race, trying to beat his brother with a tattered umbrella.
However, the race day was generally a good one for police, with only six evictions.
One was for drunkenness, one was for behaviour, and three others were for protesters who tried to get onto the course.
“They were on the main straight and they tried to get on the racecourse prior to the main race,” Insp Cooper said.
He said the 94,000-strong crowd had been well-behaved, with about 60 to 70 anti-horse racing protesters gathering peacefully outside the course.
The Cup 2015: What you don’t see on TV
— with AAP
Originally published as Melbourne Cup carnage you don’t see on TV
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