Perhaps for the first time in the annals of Indian racing history, a Derby was declared null and void after two freak mishaps involving the first two favourites and a false start. The Gr 1 Poonawalla Mysore Derby turned out to be an eventful one in many ways and the race itself, without the first two favorites being rendered hors de combat was also chaotic, with bumping and boring and lack of control on the part of the jockeys resulting in clumsy action.

There would have been spate of objections but the false start perhaps saved the Stewards from going into the running of the race itself. It was a pity that the glamour event of the season should have ended this way. A capacity crowd had come to witness an exciting day’s action but it turned out to be an anti-climax and the outcome was a big disappointment to scores of race goers.

The starter’s lack of reflexes and adequate response resulted in the premier race of the season ending in a disaster. The situation could have been saved if the starter had recalled the runners, declaring a false start but he failed to act, resulting in the race going through, causing a riot in the race course. The Mysore race goers have always proved to be volatile and they were quick to resort to aggressive measures, by breaking several TV monitors and very nearly causing a serious law and order problem. Fortunately, the authorities acted quickly and averted any untoward happening. Surely this was not a good advertisement for scores of first timers at the race course because more than the mishaps, it was the manner in which crowd goes out of control in Mysore. Incidents as the one witnessed have happened in the past even in the biggest race of Indian Racing Calendar, Gr 1 Indian Turf Invitation Cup. The only difference was that the starter declared a false start and the race was re-run despite the favourite had run the full course.
Arjun Mangalorkar trained Immense who was supplemented into this as a final entry, was throwing up tantrums even at the saddling enclosure and in fact, he reared up violently in the saddling stable itself. He was brought last into the paddock parade and quickly sent to the starting gates. Sun Kingdom, who had blotted his copy book by running below par in the Mysore 2000 Guineas to Immense, was backed with conviction to make amends. Immense steadily lost supporters. Ordained One had his share of supporters while the rest were at big odds.

The excitement reached a crescendo as the horses were loaded bang in front of the Grand Stand. Immense was getting restless and was rearing up. Vinod Shinde on Bucethalis was yet to get into the saddle but the starter perhaps did not notice that the jockey was not ready for the start. Possibly he also did not hear Vinod Shinde shouting that he was not ready. With little more alertness, he could have let things settle down especially since Immense was getting restive and was not staying still. However, he gave the start just as Immense reared up, veered to his left and then got stuck in the gates. The handler who was holding Immense was also taken aback by the suddenness of the start and he was forced to duck for cover in the next stall which had Sun Kingdom. Since Immense had gone across Sun Kingdom, jockey Prakash was also unnerved by the second favourite going across his face in the violent fall. He was imbalanced when Sun Kingdom jumped out and juggled for a while before hitting the turf. Fortunately for him, nothing untoward happened as jockey Ashsish was able to keep his horse from running into the jockey who was in the act of trying to get up. Prakash was indeed lucky to escape with a scare. Bucethalis jumped out without the jockey. Surely this was a situation nobody had bargained for with the first two favourites coming a cropper at the start itself.

With the starter not pressing the hooter, the race was gone through. Fist of Rage hit the front from the start followed by Spark of Atan, Balmoral Castle, Ordained One, Rapture of Victory and Deep Blue Sky. Arshad Asbar on Balmoral Castle went on to Ordained One half way through the race and the latter’s stride was broken. A few metres later, Spark of Atan came out and bumped Balmoral Castle who in turn went on to Ordained One who thus received two major interferences. Fist of Rage stayed put in the front to win from Balmoral Castle and Spark of Atan.

Even as jockey Chandrasekhar was celebrating his unexpected success, the yellow cone signifying Stewards enquiry went up. Chandrasekhar had replaced T S Jodha in the saddle. A repeated viewing of the TV revealed that there indeed was a false start as the jockey of Bucethalis was not in the saddle when the field set out. Incidents as the one involving Immense do happen quite often but the situation could have been saved if starter Shanmukh Swamy had acted swiftly. Unfortunately, he seemed to have had an off day in the biggest race of the season.

The Stewards had little option under the circumstances and they declared the race null and void. Chief Stipendiary Steward Raman said the decision was taken under Rule 30 of BTC Rules of Racing, declaring that there was an' 'unfair’’ start.

Chairman of Mysore Race Club Kanthraj Urs said that the club was considering re-framing the Derby, calling for fresh entries three weeks from now. ''A decision to this effect will be taken after due deliberation,’’ he added.