"God, please don't forgive them because they know exactly what they are doing," this quote from Antony Lobo, a racegoer for over 20 years, accurately summed up the anger and frustration felt by almost all sections of the racing fraternity after the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) stewards announced a bizarre verdict in the last race of the Sunday card. The controversial decision is bound to be debated in racing world for a long time. The stewards declared San Rafael (C Rajendra up) as a non-starter despite the horse having come under the starter's order, run his race, and finished fourth. Incidentally, the race was won by the favourite, the Narendra Lagad-trained Prince Of Troy. The unprecedented decision deprived San Rafael's owners stakes money, and hit the punters where it hurt most: those who had backed the winner lost 20% of their gains, and those who had backed the first three finishers for place had to do away with a whopping 50% of their profits, to compensate for refund of bets on the non-starter. The incident that prompted steward's intervention was caused by human error, as the start for the race was given before the blindfolds on San Rafael were removed, denying him a fair start, the horse lost a crucial 1.20 seconds before he could come out of the stall. "If they (stewards) felt the start was not fair to all, the only option was to declare the race null &amp; void, and refund all bets," said a senior club member who did not wish to be named. "It's a motivated decision," a bookmaker told MiD DAY on the condition of anonymity, "it's an open secret that there was heavy betting on the winner done by a particular group whom the stewards do not dare to displease." The bookmaker, in support of his argument, pointed out that when the same connections had bet on another horse from the same stable two years ago at Pune who had eventually lost, the stewards had, in another controversial and unprecedented decision (Sparkling Spirit episode, Sep 2009), declared the race null &amp; void, resulting in this group being saved from huge losses. MiD DAY contacted RWITC chairman Vivek Jain for his take on the matter, but in an SMS sent to this correspondent, Jain informed, "I left at 4.15 pm (the race was run after 5.30 pm), and did not know what happened thereafter."

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The controversial decision is bound to be debated in racing world for a long time

Controversial decision by RWITC stewards

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Controversial decision by RWITC stewards

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