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The race meeting at Fairview racecourse outside Port Elizabeth on Friday afternoon is set to go ahead although Phumelela Gaming says a final decision will only be taken later in the morning.
It says most grooms at the training centre at the racecourse had returned to work by midday on Thursday following a violent early morning protest.
Phumelela says the protest was initiated by grooms formerly employed by leading Port Elizabeth trainer Yvette Bremner and other grooms at the centre later joined the protest.
Several horses in Bremner’s care were let out of their stables and chased from the complex before the Public Order Police managed to remove the protesters from the training centre and restore order.
Tragically, one of Bremner’s charges, Mark The Doorman, died after falling and breaking his neck as a result of the grooms’ actions.
All other horses let loose were later caught and returned to their stables. Several suffered varying injuries, but a veterinary surgeon said that initial examinations indicated all are likely to recover.
Meanwhile, police have confirmed that a 49-year-old man was detained on charges of public violence following the chaos at Fairview and will appear in court soon.
The incident resulted in an outpouring of anger on social media, so much so that police appealed to social media users not to post false information as they ran the risk of being prosecuted.
