Lyndon Barends – taking action (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
The shocking sight of a Groom appearing to kick a horse greeted Tellytrack viewers prior to the running of the third race at Greyville on Friday evening.
The runners participating in the third race were ringing in the parade ring when the unidentified Groom, washing an unidentified horse, can be seen kicking out with his boot, as the horse appears to knock a bucket over.
The video clip went viral amongst the South African horseracing community with horror and disgust being expressed by viewers.
The Sporting Post has learnt reliably that National Horseracing Authority CEO Lyndon Barends has launched an investigation into the matter.
Grooms are not licenced by the NHA and it will be an interesting case as to how the matter is handled – although the alleged offence occurred in the course of a racemeeting under NHA jurisdiction and in the course of the alleged offender’s employment by a licenced party.
