8 Dec, 2006 Times News Network
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BANGALORE: An angry crowd of over 2,000 railbirds ransacked the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) premises, damaged 23 TV sets, windowpanes and flowerpots worth over Rs 10 lakh on Friday evening, accusing a jockey of indulging in race-fixing.
The trouble started around 5 pm after Hidalgo from trainer Hidayath Khan's yard upset the applecart of the two top fancies — Simply Spectacular and Appoint — in the Bugs Bunny Cup. Immediately, all hell broke loose as angry railbirds hurled stones and soda bottles at the members' enclosure before storming the bookmakers' ring and stalls.
DCP (Central) G B Chebbi said jockey Christopher Alford astride Appoint,which was in command and looked set to win the race, "deliberately" relaxed and, in fact, looked back twice at the trailing horses. "The crowd saw it as race-fixing."
But the BTC chose to ignore the rising anger of the mob, which felt further incensed that the turf club, instead of ordering a probe into the incident, went ahead with awards presentation. "As a result, the crowd went berserk," Chebbi said.
They went on an attacking spree for over 30 minutes — damaging furniture and hurling chairs in the paddock area and weighing room — until the police intervened and brought the situation under control.
Late in the night, BTC directors decided to suspend jockey Alford from Dec 19 to March 31, 2007. An inquiry has been ordered into the last race. The High Grounds police have taken up a case of rioting on a BTC complaint.
SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
BANGALORE: An angry crowd of over 2,000 railbirds ransacked the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) premises, damaged 23 TV sets, windowpanes and flowerpots worth over Rs 10 lakh on Friday evening, accusing a jockey of indulging in race-fixing.
The trouble started around 5 pm after Hidalgo from trainer Hidayath Khan's yard upset the applecart of the two top fancies — Simply Spectacular and Appoint — in the Bugs Bunny Cup. Immediately, all hell broke loose as angry railbirds hurled stones and soda bottles at the members' enclosure before storming the bookmakers' ring and stalls.
DCP (Central) G B Chebbi said jockey Christopher Alford astride Appoint,which was in command and looked set to win the race, "deliberately" relaxed and, in fact, looked back twice at the trailing horses. "The crowd saw it as race-fixing."
But the BTC chose to ignore the rising anger of the mob, which felt further incensed that the turf club, instead of ordering a probe into the incident, went ahead with awards presentation. "As a result, the crowd went berserk," Chebbi said.
They went on an attacking spree for over 30 minutes — damaging furniture and hurling chairs in the paddock area and weighing room — until the police intervened and brought the situation under control.
Late in the night, BTC directors decided to suspend jockey Alford from Dec 19 to March 31, 2007. An inquiry has been ordered into the last race. The High Grounds police have taken up a case of rioting on a BTC complaint.
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