TRACK INVADER MEETS HIS MATCH. RACE SAVED AND SAFETY SECURED BY SWIFT ACTION OF HKJC OFFICIALS

By Graham Potter | Monday, December 15, 2025

The scene was incredible enough in itself … but the fact that it was taking place while a race was being run, no less a race than that in which Romantic Warrior was seeking an historic fourth successive win in the Longines Hong Kong Cup, made it just quite incredible.

Whatever misguided motivation prompted a track invasion by an individual whose actions, from his first step onto the Sha Tin turf, look set to compromise the safety of the horses and riders who were approaching the home turn at that stage, he certainly had his ambition of disrupting proceedings cut short in the most dramatic fashion.

If he thought he was going to advance across to the centre of the track where he could be heighten the danger fir the runners … well, that option came crashing down while he was still towards the outside of the track … brought crashing down by a spectacular, forceful tackle by a Hong Kong Turf Club official, the Australian assistant starter Critta McMullen that would have done any international rugby player proud.

Knocked backwards off his feet by the strength of the tackle … hitting the ground hard … and then being pinned where he had fallen by four officials while the Hong Kong Cup runners, now in full cry, hurtled down the home straight, the track invader’s effort had been nullified in record time by the amazing reaction of all of the officials involved.

All kudos to them.

They kept still and made sure the track invader was unable to move as the horses, led by Romantic Warrior, thundered by safely along the inside section of the track, to complete a race which could have had a unhappy and unwanted alternative conclusion had such swift and efficient action not, almost quite literally, cut the intruder off at the knees.

McMullen was asked about his heroics on SENTrack’s Giddy-Up program.

“We were watching the race actually, and then we heard the crowd making a bit of a noise and turned around and he was on the track,” said McMullen.

“A couple of us got together and got to him quite quicky and got the situation under control as best we could.

“I think we got lucky, in that, we were able to get hold of him a bit wider out on the track. It might have been a different story. If he was closer to the inside rail, we would have had to drag him away … but, where he was, we could have him sit motionless and be less of a danger to the horses.

“For that particular starting point, I am always in that spot but, whatever the situation, our highest priority is always the horses and jockey.”

Amazing stuff.

HRO’s Darren Winningham captured the incident in a quite magnificent series of photographs which, because they tell the story in such telling fashion in their own right, are included here on the right-hand side of the page. They show what happened ,...and, at the same time, gives you an idea of what might have happened. Brilliant work.

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