A violent protest by an unruly mob marred Saturday’s racing at Bangalore, as things got out of hand and police had to be summoned to control the situation. It all started after the Stewards of The Bangalore Turf Club endorsed an opinion expressed by the Stipes, and changed the result of The Karnataka Racehorse Owner’s Association Trophy , the feature event in the day’s card. To the delight of the betting public, hot favourite Murioi had won this race in a thrilling finish from Duma and Solitaire Royale. After a lot of jostling in the final furlong and a half of this race, Murioi had come “flying” on the wide outside and nailed Duma on the post. Solitaire Royale had ended a close third. Those who had watched this race carefully, knew that there had had been too many “interferences” in this race. A number of runners had rolled onto each other at a crucial stage of this race. “Who had done what to whom?” was a question that could be answered only after watching it in slow motion. A flurry of announcements followed. PS Chouhan, the rider of third placed Solitaire Royale, lodged a double objection against the riders of Murioi and Duma. He contended, that but for a hampered passage, Solitaire Royale would have won the day’s feature. At the behest of the Stipes, the Stewards ordered an enquiry into the running of this race. 

After the withdrawal of Arabian Warrior, the seven horse field had been flagged off to an even start. Socrates and Zenica showed early speed and led marginally from Solitaire Royale, Murioi and Duma. The order remained more or less the same till they straightened for home. With less than two furlongs to travel in this sprint, the runners began to get closer. While Socrates was still ahead of them, Solitaire Royale made his move towards the inner rails and went marginally ahead of Zenica. Murioi joined Zenica on her outside, while Duma moved dangerously towards the centre of the track.. The first horse to move sideways was Murioi. He first chopped-off Zenica and then went onto Solitaire Royale. Imran Chisty, the rider of Zenica, was lucky to stay aboard his filly. Any lesser rider would have gone for a huge toss. Chouhan’s mount got a knock from Murioi, lost his strides and buckled under pressure In the midst of all this, John continued to whip Duma with his left hand, and the filly pressurized the horses on her inside. Because of an unhampered passage, Duma went ahead of the others.She continued to lean inwards and moved towards the inner rails. Murioi and Solitaire Royale had to regain their strides before making their final bids. Because of his better acceleration and an obvious weight advantage, Murioi galloped strongly in the last fifty metres and managed to beat Duma on the post. With the first two finishers closing the gap once again, Solitaire Royale’s final bid was further hampered. 

After lengthy deliberations, and repeated viewings of the taped evidence, the Stipes recommended upholding both the objections. They went a step further and proposed disqualification of the winner. The racing public was keenly watching the proceedings on closed circuit TV Monitors. They waited patiently to hear what each of the Stewards had to say. It is normal practice that a person chairing a meeting elicits the views of everyone present, before expressing his own opinion.   In a curious turn of events, the Chairman of the BTC did not wait for the opinion of each Steward. He announced that he felt they should all go with the recommendations of the Stipes. After brief nods from all present, he asked the officials to go ahead and confirm the proposed verdict. Within minutes there was mayhem at the course. Chairs were flung onto the paddock, bottles littered the race track and TV screens were smashed. The mob fury turned violent and things got out of hand. The authorities were compelled to cancel the last three races on Saturday. 

There is no doubt about the fact that Murioi was a major culprit. But for his inward drift and subsequent bumping of Zenica and Solitaire Royale, it would have been a straightforward race. There is also little doubt, that had they all run straight, Murioi would have won by a much larger margin. A couple of questions needed to be asked from the three top jockeys involved in this incident. Why had none of them tried to correct their respective mounts while all this was happening? Each one of them had continued riding their horses, oblivious to the path that they were traversing. As regards the decision of the Stewards, it was something that they decided in their wisdom. There is no point in debating it . However, keeping the interests of the betting public in mind, and the complicated nature of the events as they had unfurled, they could have taken a slightly different view. While announcing the revised result, and giving the prize to the connections of Solitaire Royale, they could have cancelled all bets in this race. It is something that has happened in the past in Indian Racing, and this was one case in which such action could have been considered. 

Three of the four races held prior to the day’s feature had witnessed the eclipse of a number of fancied runners. It had begun with the running of The Shivasamudra Cup, which happened to be the first race of the afternoon. Hillstone, Sweet Timer, Living Legend and Right On Time were seen at the top of the betting boards. Each one of them had more or less an equal chance to win this race. Sweet Timer utilized his early speed and led by a few lengths from Brigade’s Pride and Sunny Seven. After a tardy start, Hillstone and Right On Time were seen at the wrong end of the pack. The runners began to bunch up in the straight, and quite a few of them were seen searching for a safe passage at that stage. In the hands of Valdir DeSouza, Sunny Seven showed a lot of determination. The six year old from Faraz Arshad’s yard put his head down, emerged from the group and galloped resolutely towards the winning post. In a close fight for the minor berths, Sweet Timer retained second ahead of a late and fast finishing Hillstone. The last named was seen doing some good work in the closing stages of this race, and it may not take him long to score a point before the end of this season. 

A class IV event over 2000 metres attracted nine hopefuls.  Since such events are rarely held at Bangalore, it was interesting to note that none of them had run over this trip earlier in their careers. On their second and third placed finishes behind Sumitomo over a mile, Velvetine and Glycys Bay were fancied ahead of the others. Since Sumitomo had defied the handicapper on re-appearance and run a very close second to Diamonite yesterday, it was felt that the two market fancies would run better than the others. Prasanna Kumar’s Glycys Bay showed early intent and set a comfortable pace ahead of Haute Ecole, Rebuttal’s Hope and Velvetine. They raced in the same order for most of the way. Things altered marginally at the bend. With Haute Ecole getting exhausted, the stage was set for Rebuttal’s Hope and Velvetine to make their moves. While Velvetine moved sideways under pressure, Rebuttal’s Hope moved strongly towards the leader. In fact, he collared and passed Glycys Bay near the furlong marker. However, under some relentless pressure from Vivek, Glycys Bay fought back on the rails and managed to get  the better of Rebuttal’s Hope on the post. Public choice Velvetine ended a tame third. She obviously found the trip a bit too long for her liking. 

Babu Rao’s Indian was the only favourite to score on Saturday. After taking down a lot of money last week, this horse was being campaigned in a lower category. Even though he was carrying a  higher impost, the quality of his opposition was much poorer. With Rajesh Babu astride, Indian was backed with confidence. Amit Caddy’s Hatchet Harry received strong support to start as a clear second favourite in this race. Surprisesucceeding did his customary front-running and showed the way to Hatchet Harry and Indian. Since none of the others were really interested in this race, the three of them were clear at the bend. Hatchet Harry overtook Surprisesucceeding in the straight and charged towards the finishing line. Under some strong riding from Culhane, this small made horse opened-up a nice looking lead over Indian and roused hopes of an imminent victory. However, that was not to be. Indian discovered his galloping shoes, devoured ground on the wide outside and managed to get his neck in front as they flashed past the winning post. Claara was the best of the rest, as she came from way behind to claim the third slot. 

The biggest bombshell of the day was dropped by a horse named Gun Salute. Running in a seven furlong race for horses five years old and over in class II, this Satish Narredu trainee flew out of the starting gates and retained his advantage till the very end. With the likes of I Specialist, Make My Day, Decorated and Aztec Gold participating in this event, not many gave a chance to this 30/1 outsider. Even though I Specialist and Make My Day were closely matched, there was more support for the former. Despite his jockey dropping the whip in an earlier start, I Specialist had run brilliantly to end a very close third. With Imran Chisty in the saddle today, he was expected to improve on that performance.  Gun Salute took off from the widest draw and settled into a nice looking lead over Make My Day, I Specialist and Decorated. Apprentice Saddam Hussain’s allowance had lightened his burden, and the five year old was enjoying his freedom. After missing the jump, Aztec Gold graced the rear. There was no significant change in the order till the bend. With Gun Salute failing to slow down, there was panic at the back. John astride Make My Day and Chisty on I Specialist pulled out their sticks. Finding nothing extra in their respective tanks, they surrendered without a fight. Gun Salute continued his good work and registered a facile victory. Decorated rallied late towards the inner rails to move into second place ahead of Make My Day and I Specialist. This was the third time this winter that I Specialist had taken down a lot of public money. It may be a good idea to leave him alone from a betting perspective in future.