Reveller runs into trouble at Otaki racetrack

Photo / Thinkstock

A punter on his stag do was thrown out of an Otaki racetrack for running down the home straight wearing a blonde hairpiece during a horse race.

This followed a court appearance for an Auckland man with a similar penchant for artificial tresses and a failed getaway.

The Upper Hutt man - who was decked out in a minidress and a blonde wig - was collared by security staff and ejected from the course.

"What he did was crazy," Otaki-Maori Racing Club racing boss Darin Balcombe said.

"If the horses had been running wide as they sometimes do during the winter, he could easily have been killed."

The incident happened in the closing stages of race 3 at 1.40pm.

"I've never seen anything like it at a racetrack before," Balcolmbe added. "He ran along the outside of the course as the horses charged to the winning post. He even crossed the line himself.

"The guy had been drinking but he wasn't completely legless. He is a bloody idiot."

The groom-to-be - believed to be in his late 20s - has been banned from the course.

Shocked people at the track took to Facebook to share what they had just witnessed.

Kate Goodrich posted: "Did anyone just see that race at Otaki?? See the idiot on the track faceplant on the line!"

The 2100m race wasn't disrupted and was won by Derby Dan.

Meanwhile in Auckland, a transvestite who allegedly stole a wig from a mannequin appeared in court yesterday.

Staff at a Queen St store said the 20-year-old man pinched the blonde wig after staking out the store on Friday.

"He was caught red-handed by one of the customers," a Portmans employee said.

"We chased after him but he was already gone."

She said police caught up with the West Auckland man, who told police he was a prostitute in need of a better appearance. He is yet to plead to the charge.