09 August,2010 10:01 AM IST | | Prakash Gosavi
The result of the Gr 2, F D Wadia Trophy at the Pune racecourse on Sunday turned out be a surprise for the followers of money when Dr Vijay Mallya's Ciel Indienne won the race at the odds of 15 to 1, while public fancy Star Warrior could only place third. But before punters could recover, the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) stewards delivered a shocker, by announcing a change in the judge's placings and awarding the race to runner up Su Chaliyo, a 40-1 shot trained by Faisal Abbas.
During the seven-furlong journey of the feature race, Ciel Indienne (JG Sampson up) stalked leader Superior Quest all along, while Su Chaliyo (L Stephane up) raced at the wrong end till the final turn. On straightening up, Sampson astride Ciel Indienne quickly grabbed the lead and was busy keeping favourite Star Warrior at bay, when Stephane alerted Su Chaliyo who utilized the hitherto preserved energy to gain momentum.
This momentum could possibly have come in handy for Su Chaliyo if Stephane, who was presented with two wide gaps, had opted for the one between the two front runners. Instead, the Frenchman decided to switch inside and take the gap on the inner rails, which soon got closed as Ciel Indienne shifted towards rails.
Stephane then switched to the outside and gained some ground, but was shy at the wire by three parts of a length.
"The winner had absolutely nothing to do with the runner up's loss," reacted Shailesh Jha, a racegoer who had travelled from Mumbai for the Sunday races, "I wonder why they even called for inquiry when there was nothing unusual in the race."
When MiD DAY asked Dallas Todywalla, trainer of the relegated Ciel Indienne, if he knew on what grounds his winner was taken down, he said, "I really don't know, my owners are obviously very upset, after all it's a Group 2 race. They have asked for the video."
When MiD DAY asked RWITC chairman Vivek Jain who was also among the stewards who took the controversial decision, he said, "The original winner's jockey admitted he had tightened up the second-placed horse, and since the latter made up further ground to finish closer after the incident, the verdict was reversed."
On the track, the professional honours were shared by trainer Mansoor Shah, owner Haresh Mehta and jockey Suraj Narredu who scored a well-supported treble with Golden Grace, Firevault and Dream Talk.
