Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Race day stoush between horse owners and greyhound trainer caught on camera

Leighton Keith
By Leighton Keith
Open Justice multimedia journalist, Whanganui·NZ Herald·
10 Jun, 2022 01:30 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Two owners of harness race horses have been fined after abusing and threatening a greyhound trainer at a duel race meeting in Cambridge last Christmas Eve. Photo / Harness Racing New Zealand

Two owners of harness race horses have been fined after abusing and threatening a greyhound trainer at a duel race meeting in Cambridge last Christmas Eve. Photo / Harness Racing New Zealand

A drunken race day clash of the codes melee between horse owners and a greyhound trainer was caught on camera and has led to a misconduct hearing.

The stoush at the Waikato BOP Harness race meeting at Cambridge Raceway, a dual greyhound racing and harness racing meeting, on Christmas Eve 2021 was a continuation of bad blood between three men.

It resulted in David Anthony Marshall, a licensed stablehand and registered harness horse owner, and Ricki Lloyd Herbert, a licensed amateur driver and registered harness horse owner, facing misconduct charges brought by the Racing Integrity Board.

Marshall admitted that he was drinking on and off throughout the day and probably had a few too many but Herbert denied drinking a significant quantity of alcohol, the board's summary of facts stated.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

As greyhound trainer Allen Christiansen returned to the dais area in front of the main grandstand following a race about 6pm he encountered Marshall who began to yell abuse and threaten him.

"You got beat, you f******g piece of s***" and "**** come here I will smash your head in," Marshall bellowed.

Christiansen continued to walk with his dog with Marshall following, continuing to shout abuse.

Herbert then crossed a roped fence, approached Christiansen and began yelling abuse while gesturing toward him in a threatening manner.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A small scuffle broke out when others got involved while several people continued to abuse Christiansen.

Others stepped in to ensure the disturbance didn't descend into physical violence and Christiansen walked away without responding to any of the commotion.

The end of the incident was captured on CCTV operated by the TAB.

In its decision, the Racing Integrity Board said the footage was broadcast live to the nation on Trackside television but the TAB said this was not correct.

Open Justice approached TAB to obtain the footage but was told it would not release it and that it never went to air because Trackside crossed to another race meeting.

The racing board investigator confirmed he viewed the footage as part of his investigation and that the board had a copy of the recording, which was provided by the TAB.

After the incident that day, Christiansen scratched the rest of his dogs from the meeting and left the course stating he didn't feel comfortable remaining.

The board noted there was relevant background to the fracas.

In July 2021 Christiansen assaulted Marshall's son Kyle, by slapping him through the open window of a vehicle and then slamming the door hard enough to cause the glass to smash.

He shoved a second man into a concrete wall, causing a cut to the back of his head and pushed another in the shoulder.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Christiansen was found guilty of three misconduct charges and disqualified for a period of three months, beginning in January 2022.

Both Marshall and Herbert admitted a charge of misconduct and were referred to an Adjudicative Committee to decide their penalty.

The committee said aggravating factors included the threatening and intimidating behaviour which happened in a highly public area.

"Their conduct fell well short of the behaviour that is expected of persons licensed to participate in the Harness Racing Industry and fell well short of what is reasonably expected of persons conducting themselves in society in general."

Mitigating factors included both men admitting the charge, their cooperation with the board and Marshall had apologised in writing and offered to take part in mediation.

Both men were fined $1000.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Graeme Dingle leader steps back after 25 years, will still lead Project K

21 Jun 02:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Max capacity': Good news for growing school squeezing classes into library

20 Jun 09:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood

20 Jun 05:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Graeme Dingle leader steps back after 25 years, will still lead Project K

Graeme Dingle leader steps back after 25 years, will still lead Project K

21 Jun 02:00 AM

He founded Kiwi Can in Ōpōtiki and Tauranga, reaching over 3700 youth weekly.

'Max capacity': Good news for growing school squeezing classes into library

'Max capacity': Good news for growing school squeezing classes into library

20 Jun 09:00 PM
Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood

Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood

20 Jun 05:00 PM
My father was a community hero - he also sexually abused me

My father was a community hero - he also sexually abused me

20 Jun 05:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP