Escaped race horse shocks commuters at suburban train station
An escaped race horse has been spotted at a suburban Sydney train station, bamboozling confused commuters.
CCTV footage captured the moment a retired racehorse wandered into Warwick Farm train station around midnight on Friday, as confused commuters hid from the animal.
Sydney Trains CEO Matt Longland said they were alerted to the unexpected passenger, and notified train drivers to keep a look out for a passenger that was "horsing around".
“Thankfully we were able to warn our train drivers to take extra care to look out for animals on the tracks” Longland said.
“A train stopped at the station, (but) didn’t open its doors.”
After pacing the platform for almost 30 minutes, the horse was reunited with its owner, top Australian horse racing trainer Annabel Neasham.
“Unfortunately, we had an intruder break-in to one of our stables,” Neasham said. “In the meantime, he managed to let our stable pony out.”
“(Our) horse is back at home, none the wiser, not even a scratch on him.”
Stable hand Keith Morrison said it was “highly unusual” that the horse ended up on the platform and left him with unanswered questions.
“I still want to know how it got up the stairs and onto the platform — it didn’t use the lift!”
Langland said Sydney Trains were giving the horse, now affectionately nicknamed “Mr Red” by train staff, a “stern warning” for “failing to tap-on at the station”.
"It's not every day you see a horse on the platform, but that's what we saw at Warwick Farm," NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said.
She said the horse was a well-behaved passenger, adding, "It kept its hooves behind the yellow line, which is a good thing."
Image credits: 7News