Claims a knife was thrown at last week's New Zealand Trotting Cup contestants have proven wrong, with the offending missile being a pen.
And suggestions the so-called knife might have been thrown at controversial pacer Changeover are now ludicrous after viewing security footage uncovered by the Herald.
National media have
reported a knife was thrown at the horses in last Tuesday's Cup at Addington but the object was actually a gold and silver-plated pen.
And rather than being aimed at any one horse or drive, Herald investigations can confirm the pen was thrown by an intoxicated guest in a corporate area who was never within 30m of the horses and could not even see the field.
That is backed up by phone camera footage of the alleged offender taken by a security guard who reported him to police.
The Herald's findings make a mockery of claims the pen was actually a knife and could have been aimed at defending NZ Cup champion Changeover, who has many critics after trainer Geoff Small's numerous run-ins with harness racing officials.
Addington boss Shane Gloury will hand over the pen to police this morning with the security photo of the alleged offender.
The pen was thrown into the approaching field in the final stages of the $1 million race but from behind a large group of people standing inside the track, meaning the alleged offender had no vision of specific horses.
The pen was later retrieved by a security guard who bizarrely returned it to a corporate guest who knew the offender.
That man, spooked by reports of a knife being thrown, went to Addington yesterday and gave the pen to Gloury and explained the situation. "He told me the guy who threw it was too drunk and that he wasn't aiming at anything, definitely not a horse.
"And there was absolutely nothing mentioned about any specific horse. It was just somebody who had too much to drink being stupid."
Gloury said the matter was still being taken very seriously by Addington officials and when the offender is officially identified he will be warned off attending Addington again.
"We hate to think that any of our guests would do such a thing and even though quite clearly no knife was involved a pen still has the potential to be dangerous if it hit one of the horses or drivers."
