Sydney Swans star Isaac Heeney is $120,000 richer after a surprise public appearance at a horse racing meet in Hong Kong.
Almost three months after the alleged sexual assault scandal rocked the AFL club, the 30-year-old appeared to be in good spirits on Wednesday at Happy Valley racecourse, where he cheered his horse Brownneedsfurther to victory.
With champion Australian jockey Zac Purton on board, the five-year-old gelding, which started at $5.90, won the 1200m Gloucester Handicap by half a length.
Dressed in a casual black suit and unbuttoned white shirt, Heeney smiled for the cameras while posing with Purton and his fellow winning connections after the race.
Trained by famed Makybe Diva trainer David Hall in Hong Kong, Brownneedsfurther has won more than $3 million in prizemoney to date.
It was his third win from his last four starts.
Sydney Swans star Isaac Heeney (fourth left) celebrated his horse’s victory at Happy Valley racecourse in Hong Kong on Wednesday
Heeney has kept a low profile since being stood down for the rest of the season for breaching club standards
Heeney was spotted at Happy Valley on the same day his estranged fiancée Steffie Waters appeared to have returned to Sydney after she fled the US in the wake of the allegations.
It was a rare public appearance for Heeney, who has kept a low profile since being stood down for the rest of the season for breaching club standards.
He was also absent from the Swans’ recent award night, where he won his third consecutive Bob Skilton Medal as the club’s best and fairest.
Heeney and Swans teammates Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice were stood down for the remainder of the season over breaches of behavioural standards.
The action taken by the club is separate from a Victoria Police investigation into allegations of sexual assault in a room at Melbourne’s Pullman East Melbourne hotel in the early hours of August 17.
It was revealed earlier this week that two of the three adult entertainers at the centre of the allegations had sent letters regarding potential civil action to four players, the club and an ex-player.
Heeney, Warner, Blakey and Bice were reportedly sent letters, along with retired teammate Taylor Adams. Another player embroiled in the saga, James Jordon, did not receive a letter.
All five players have denied the sexual assault allegations and no charges have been laid. Daily Mail does not suggest that any of the players committed the alleged offence. The matter remains under police investigation.
had Warner and Isaac Heeney are among four players who remain under investigation over allegations that rocked the Sydney Swans days out from the AFL finals
Blakey has since left the club and joined North Melbourne on a $12million eight-season contract.
Victoria Police are expected to decide whether to lay charges over the allegations by the end of November following a review by the Office of Public Prosecutions.
‘As the investigation remains ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment,’ a spokeswoman told the Daily Mail last week.
‘There are no updates to provide.’
Swans players are expected to return to the club for pre-season training later this month.
