I don’t know what it is about horses that gets British people so riled up, but they really are making a habit out of brawling at the races.

Even when the Queen is in attendance, like she was at Royal Ascot, some bloke ends up with his shirt off, swinging wildly and shouting “let’s finish it off”.

That was back in 2017, and the very next year it happened again, with brawls on two successive weekends.

Skipping ahead to 2019, we now focus our attention on the Haydock racecourse in north-west England this past weekend, where another fight broke out that was caught on camera.

We’ll start with this footage:

Toward the end of that video, you’ll see a woman carrying a toddler being escorted away. Below from the Guardian:

Officials at Haydock racecourse have deplored the crowd trouble that marred Saturday’s racing at the Merseyside track, where a mother holding a toddler found herself surrounded by men throwing punches…

Further details about the incident were not offered because it has become a police matter, a 26-year-old man having been arrested on suspicion of affray and possession of a controlled drug. However, Merseyside police said it had received no complaints in relation to the incident, nor any reports of injuries…

A Twitter user identified herself as the mother who found herself surrounded by the fighting and posted film of her son playing on the spot some time earlier. “We take him because it’s a family day out, we’ve never experienced this ever before,” she tweeted. “[He] enjoys seeing the horses and it’s usually fun for all of us. It’s not my fault. People need to look at the bad guys instead of mum-shaming me.”

Somebody also managed to catch this footage:

Thanks to Conor McGregor for the commentary, there.

I think it’s safe to say a few toots were consumed, because everyone looks rather toasted.

The fingerpointing has already begun:

Some have pointed to the fact that there were no Premier League fixtures on Saturday and suggested that some of those present at Haydock may have been football fans with no particular enthusiasm for horse racing; others responded that racing should not seek to blame other sports for its own problems. There has also been speculation as to whether six consecutive losing favourites had caused tempers to fray.

They might also want to look at how much cocaine those young lads are hoovering up on race day.

I’d be OK with a minor brawl at the Met, or Queen’s Plate, as long as it involved two C-grade ‘celebs’ and a fascinator being thrown to the ground.

[source:guardian]