An anti-racing group opposed to the Melbourne Cup has refused to apologize after a member called out jockeys and racing fans are murdered in a poem that the organization has tried to dismiss as ‘satire’.
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) actively protests all racing events, including horse racing, greyhounds and harness racing, including major events such as the Melbourne Cup.
CPR held a protest event for this year’s event in Flemington, with a handful of people turning out for the Nup to the Cup event at the Flemington & Kensington Bowls Club.
The event included raffles, Farshuns on the Field – where people race instead of horses – along with live music and a DJ.
But it was a poem recited at the event that sparked outrage after the artist called for the deaths of jockeys and racegoers to end the Melbourne Cup forever.
“Every jockey creature in silk suit, flat cap, covering their corpses in the big green screen,” he ranted.
“Show it on the TV and then fill them with lead, from one to 24, until every damn jockey is dead.”
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While the person who filmed the poem was shocked by these statements, the pro-CPR crowd in attendance can be heard cheering in support.
“Then take all the happy boys and all the horse girls and drown them in the mud,” he continued.
“And the fashion in the field, let’s splatter those things with blood.
“And every broken bookmaking family, whose father lost the house, and the victim of every drunk driver, and every beaten husband.
“Tell them it’s done, we did it. The Cup is over, no more deathsport races. No more gambling.’
The man then switched gears, gesturing towards the Flemington Racecourse and pointing to the Victorian Racing Club and the revelers inside celebrating the Melbourne Cup.
“Let’s mass euthanize the whole thing, turn them all into glue and leave nothing but the grass,” he shouted.
“And if after all is said and done you still want to race, get behind that horse and let it kick you in the head.”
Sky Racing analyst Brad Davidson was among many who shouted CPR for the performance, posting: ‘What absolutely vile people.’
Canberra Raiders hooker Zac Woolford also spoke out against the tirade, writing: “This is disgraceful. Border prison scandalous.’
Southern FM radio host Jayden O’Halloran added: “Professional protesters who don’t care about horse racing for the rest of the year?”
CPR responded to the criticism but did not apologize for the man’s actions.
Pictured: The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses’ statement on the poem performed at their Nup to the Cup event on Melbourne Cup day
The man’s ‘satire’ of the horse racing industry included violent threats against jockeys and racegoers
The event included ‘Farshuns on the Field’, where people race instead of horses
“The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses is and always will be against violence of any kind – it is literally the reason we exist,” the statement said.
‘We understand that the artist who performed his poem at our event spoke every word as a form of satire, but if we had been aware of the piece before he performed it, we would not have allowed it.
‘For the simple fact that it is being taken literally by some (intentionally or not) and certainly does not reflect our views or position as an organisation, nor the views of those who attended or supported the event.’
The statement then attempted to shift attention to the alleged mistreatment of racehorses.
“There is horrific violence against the most vulnerable around the world, and this does not exclude our stables, racecourses, slaughterhouses and knackeries, all of which are part of the horse racing business model,” it said.
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‘It’s not something we support; it is something we want to put an end to.”
The ‘artist’ himself described his performance as a ‘metaphor’.
“The poem is a satire on the racing industry’s complicity in the deaths of its horses,” he said in the statement.
“I find it hard to believe that those who want to create outrage take this literally.
‘I didn’t have anyone read the poem before I performed it, because I assumed that everyone present would take it as a metaphor – no matter how difficult the subject is.’