Two animal rights protesters have been detained by police after running onto the Epsom Derby racecourse today.
One man, a supporter of Animal Rising, leapt over the fence before being tackled and handcuffed by police at about 1:30pm.
The race, later won by Auguste Rodin, had only just begun. Bystanders cheered and heckled ‘get him off the track!’ as police dragged the man away.
A woman minutes later tried to climb the fence but was arrested.
Animal Rising tweeted following the detention: ‘Despite The Jockey Club’s claim that the horse’s safety is paramount, they decided to start the race DESPITE KNOWING THAT A PROTESTER WAS ON THE TRACKS.
‘Another sickening display of profit > care for animals.’
Armed officers had been earlier seen patrolling outside the racecourse, while security guards lined the tracks.
Some 40 Animal Rising protesters have peacefully gathered outside the Epsom Downs racecourse in Surrey, holding banners reading: ‘Animal abuse isn’t a sport.’
It comes after 19 other activists were arrested in connection with plans to disrupt the Derby this morning.
Officers cuffed the campaigners on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance and remain in custody, Surrey Police said.
Police read: ‘Eleven people were arrested at addresses in Mitcham and Byfleet in the early hours, following warrants based on intelligence received ahead of the Epsom Derby Festival.
‘A further eight people were arrested after their vehicle was stopped on Canons Lane in Burgh Heath at around 10.20am this morning.’
Animal Rising has increasingly gone toe-to-toe with Britain’s historic horse-racing tournaments, having earlier pledged to ‘shut down’ today’s derby.
The group has argued that behind the elegant hats of the Derby and other races such as the Grand National is the grisly fact that the sport is deadly to horses.
According to Animal Aid’s Race Horse Death Watch, there have been at least 2,640 on-course thoroughbred fatalities in the UK since 2007.
‘People have started to gather outside the entrance of the Epsom Derby to show their care and love for all life,’ Animal Rising tweeted today.
‘We know another world is possible, where all beings are treated with respect and kindness.’
One campaigner, primary school teacher Louise Hillwood, accused the police of ‘abusing their power’.
‘As long as there are industries where animals are being harmed like the horse racing industry, like when animals are exploited for food, for entertainment, for sports,’ Louise said, ‘there will be people who are willing to step in and use their bodies to put themselves between harm and the animal.’
The Jockey Club, a horseracing company that owns Epsom Downs, was granted a High Court injunction against Animal Rising last month.
The injunction bans people from entering the racetrack with the intention of ‘disrupting the races’, the company said.
It came after the Grand National at Aintree in April was delayed by some 10 minutes after Animal Rising demonstrators got on to the course.
In defiance after a raft of arrests, the group vowed that police efforts would not put them off from protesting the Derby.
‘Our number one priority will always be to ensure that the safety of all our equine and human participants and racegoers, officials and our own employees is not compromised,’ said the Jockey Club’s Chief Executive, Nevin Truesdale, at the time.
‘Animal Rising have repeatedly made it explicitly clear that they intend to break the law and disrupt The Derby Festival and that left us with no choice but to seek this injunction.’
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