Those who did some sharp thinking and sensed that something was amiss stayed away from Mazan. Those who suffered comprised mainly of the small punters, who either weren't aware of the fluctuations or simply chose to ignore the warning signals.
Having watched Raju Singh astride Mazan making no effort to overtake the horses lying ahead and eventually losing to Cabinda, punters started to protest. It grew wild as the participants of the race started to make their way back to unsaddling enclosure. People gathered around the paddock and some even jumped the fence to cross over and reach the weighing-room. The crowd was getting unruly with each passing moment. Raju Singh was even punched in his face by a visibly angered punter who couldn't control himself when the rider dismounted from Mazan.
There was total chaos and the demonstrators included club members, regular racegoers both from the members' and first enclosures. Some even started blaming the Stewards for not taking severe action against alleged offenders
in the past which has led to a rise in such incidents of malpractice.
Anger was palpable in the atmosphere and there was fear that it would explode
at any moment. Fearing the same, the RWITC Stewards of the Club first declared that the offender's riding license was withdrawn with immediate effect. They then deliberated
on whether to declare the race null and void. Sadly there was no unanimity among the Stewards. Some were reluctant to bite the bullet it seems and indulged in the game of fence-sitting as usual.
Fortunately for all, particularly for horse-racing in Western India, sanity prevailed in the committee room and the body of Stewards headed by Mr.Vivek Jain took a not-so-unprecedented decision of declaring the race null and void.
The majority were satisfied but there were some who were disgruntled and tried to pick holes in the Stewards' action arguing mainly that it could set a bad precedent.
This is only to be expected as such decisions will never make everyone
happy. The RWITC Stewards, however, deserve to be commended for arriving at a decision which has for the first time demonstrated their will to deal with
racing offenders with an iron hand. For too long administrators of
racing in this country have shown their disinclination to take hard
decisions to the detriment of the sport. This latest stand by the RWITC
should be a boost to the other race clubs in dealing with malpractices
which seem to be getting more frequent.
While briefing the media Mr.Vivek Jain, Chairman, RWITC Stewards of the Club,
stated that the Stewards were often accused of being lenient with offenders and no amount
of punishment had proved to be a deterrent. He also said that the decision of declaring the race null and void may be unprecedented but
it did not mean that the RWITC was setting a bad precedent. Each incident
had to be viewed on a case to case basis and it did not necessarily mean
that every race would be declared null and void after a Stewards'
enquiry in future.
He further added that the Stewards were vested with powers to deal with such rare incidents and
those powers had been exercised in this case. According to Mr. Jain the
Club through its decision had ensured that the masterminds behind this crime
would not have financial gains and this should prove to be a deterrent.
As for the errant jockey, he was kept in custody by the Stipes for interrogation but he refused to divulge any information and kept crying when questioned by the officials. Late on Sunday night, the RWITC
lodged an First Information Report (FIR) with the Tardeo Police Station and handed Raju Singh over to the cops. The apprentice was reportedly arrested under the charges of cheating and disrupting peace in a public place. He was produced before a Magistrate on Monday and was released on bail
immediately.
