The Victorian government will continue to support jumps racing, despite protester calls that any blood spilt on race tracks will be on the racing minister's hands.
Seven spectators were injured at Thursday's Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool when riderless horse Banna Strand veered off the track and jumped a two-metre-high fence into the crowd.
An 80-year-old woman and a two-year-old boy were released from Warrnambool Hospital on Friday after staying overnight, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The accident came two days after a horse was put down at the carnival following a fall at a hurdle. It's also re-ignited calls for the government to ban the sport.
Racing Minister Denis Napthine said the incident was an issue of spectator safety and the Grand Annual Steeplechase should "absolutely" be allowed to continue.
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He said the incident was "unprecedented and unexpected" and has asked Racing Victoria for a full investigation into what happened in order to improve spectator safety.
"It was quite an unprecedented freak incident and it needs to be put in that context," he said on Friday.
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses said $2.5 million of taxpayers' money was being used to support the "legalised cruelty" of jumps racing.
Spokesman Ward Young said Thursday's incident was not a freak accident and any further injuries or deaths from jumps racing would be the fault of the government and Racing Victoria.
"Racing Victoria don't mind that jumps racing kills horses but now it has brought it to a new low and young children and the elderly are being injured," Mr Young said.
"(Mr Napthine) will be held responsible for whatever incident occurs in jumps racing."
He said Mr Napthine's roles as racing minister and member for South West Coast, which includes Warrnambool, was a conflict of interest.
"What we really need is somebody independent to look at it with non-beer-goggle eyes to see that this carnage cannot continue," he said.
Racing Victoria (RVL) chief executive Rob Hines said an RVL review of the incident may have ramifications for other race tracks in the state.
Mr Hines said he had misgivings about the fact that only two of eight horses finished the Grand Annual.
"It was an interesting set of circumstances where we had two fall, two were brought down and two jockeys were dislodged but I didn't think, overall, it was a particularly good look for jumps racing," he said.
Mr Hines said Friday's priority was the welfare of the injured spectators. Darren Pearson, who lives across the road from the Warrnambool track, was having a party when he witnessed Thursday's incident unfold.
A friend's 10-year-old daughter was in the crowd when the horse came through, but avoided injury.
"We saw the horse jumping over and landing on the people," he told AAP. He said the races were important for the area and, while they should not be banned, spectator safety should be improved.
The issue of spectator safety goes beyond jumps racing. Last year, eight spectators were killed when a truck ploughed into the crowd during the California 200 desert race.
Three Tour de France spectators have been killed at the cycling classic since 2000, including a seven-year-old boy and a 12-year-old. Sixteen spectators have died in the Paris-Dakar rally since its inception in 1979.
