The conduct of Thursday's races at Pune was normal as usual, but the twin objections raised by Neeraj Rawal astride Victory Flair, who finished third, against the Yash Narredu-steered winner Zuniga and Akshay Kumar-ridden runner-up Rampage, became the hot topic of discussion among racegoers. The objection was adjudicated by RWITC Chairman SR Sanas along with two stewards nominated only for the hearing who, relying on their own observations following the consideration of the evidence, the opinion of the stipendiary stewards, decided to overrule Neeraj's objection. Another objection lodged by Shazaan Shah, Rampage's trainer, against the winner was also overruled.

No decision, regulatory or otherwise, given by the administrators of horse-racing institutions has ever gone undissected, either by punters or racing pundits. The same happened after Neeraj's objection was overruled. Academic post-mortems were conducted on whether the stewards' decision to reject Neeraj's objection was correct.

The interference occurred in the last furlong of the mile contest for the General Rajendrasinhji Million and, after viewing the replay of the last segment of the race where the incident takes place, an inference could be drawn that the interference alleged by Neeraj against Zuniga and Rampage certainly had merit. Zuniga, who was under the whip and travelling wide off the other runners ahead at that stage, swerved to her left and bumped Victory Flair. At the same time, Rampage shifted out due to which Victory Flair was caught between her two rivals and virtually squeezed out of contention.  Hardly surprising then if racegoers felt that it was an "open-and-shut" case and the race would be awarded to Victory Flair.

However, a sense of disbelief gripped the racegoers when it was announced that the stewards had rejected Neeraj's objection. Actually, the circumstances which may have influenced this decision are so complex that it would be difficult for the average racegoer to comprehend. Interestingly, the professional stipes opined that the objection against Zuniga deserved to be upheld, but that against Rampage did not. Had the stewards concurred with the stipes, the race would have been awarded to Rampage. 

As mentioned earlier, it is clear from the head-on view of the race that Rampage shifted out and was running parallel to Victory Flair when she was bumped by Zuniga. However, the rear view of that incident shows that Rampage's drift did not materially affect Victory Flair's winning chances. It is impossible to ascertain why the stewards were not inclined to alter the judge's original placing and it shouldn't be surprising if controversy over the stewards' decision rages on for a while. 

Nevertheless, the stewards' decision, right or wrong, raises some pertinent questions about the procedural infirmities that hurt not only the credibility of the turf club, but its reputation as well. For, it appears for the first time that, twice in succession, the stewards have chosen to disregard the stipes' opinion during the hearing of an objection. When the stipes' duty is to watch races day in and day out and they are considered adept at reading a race, publicly overriding their opinion is difficult to justify and inevitably undermines their judgement. In the current scenario, the stitching of a quorum of stewards to hear an objection leaves a lot to be desired.

When people cast aspersions and indulge in speculation, it does not bring any glory to the sport or the club for that matter. The current administrators of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) should therefore address the concerns regarding the hearing process. It may be easier said than done, but the issue needs to be fixed as soon as possible to protect the credibility and reputation of the club.