Call to curb Ascot drinking as glass of beer thrown at jockey
A JOCKEY had a glass of beer thrown at him at Royal Ascot yesterday as campaigners called for curbs on the culture of drinking at the event.
Jockey Andrea Atzeni had beer thrown at him as he cantered down to the start for the final race yesterday.
At Ladies’ Day on Thursday, a series of inebriated customers were caught on camera, with one shirtless man threatening to fight those in his path.
Atzeni, who had ridden Stradivarius to victory in the previous race, said: “I was cantering down to post and it was a plastic glass with beer in it. It only just missed my horse but they properly chucked it. I was two or three metres off the rail and the glass of beer went straight in front of me. I couldn’t really do much. There surely should have been someone [security] there.”
There had been seven arrests of people on a “drunk and disorderly” charge by the end of Thursday.
Andrew Misell, of Alcohol Concern, said: “There needs to be less emphasis on selling alcohol on-course and a greater willingness to stop serving people when they’ve had enough.”
A spokesman for Ascot said: “With 70,000 people in attendance, sadly it is difficult to eradicate all antisocial behaviour. Our security staff can and do remove people, and we operate a system whereby staff who identify antisocial behaviour give one warning.”