Daily Express investigation saves Epsom Derby helping the police make 31 arrests

Organisers behind the Epsom Derby have praised the Daily Express for helping thwart protesters bent on disrupting it. One man ran on the track but was soon stopped and the race was not delayed. Police also made pre-emptive swoops.

This newspaper exposed Animal Rising’s plot to storm the Surrey ­racetrack by working in organised cells and dressed as typical racegoers.

We identified ringleaders and helped police make 31 arrests. Eleven were the result of dawn raids at addresses in Mitcham, south London, and Byfleet, Surrey, after police followed suspects from the racecourse on Friday night.

A further eight were stopped in a vehicle in Burgh Heath. Phones were confiscated.

Twelve were detained at the racecourse, including two women who were prevented from climbing a fence on Saturday.

A spokesperson for The Jockey Club, which owns the course, said: “We remain extremely grateful to the Daily Express for publishing details of Animal Rising’s plans to disrupt The Derby illegally.”

Our undercover reporter infiltrated the group of 70 vegan plotters, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, who met at an office shared by Just Stop Oil in East London. As a result of intelligence, the Jockey Club won a High Court injunction to ban activity intended to disrupt the festival and spent £150,000 more on extra security.

Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale told Racing TV’s Luck on Sunday there had been a “sense of apprehension and foreboding” in the run up to Saturday, and that it was the most difficult and detailed security operation he had seen there. He said: “It was really important to us this race went ahead as planned.

“As a sport we can be immensely proud. It was a very bad day for Animal Rising.”

But the group claimed police had been “heavy-handed”. Activist Louise Hillwood, a primary teacher, said: “What happened is an over-reach and an abuse of power.”

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