Doping scandal: Will RWITC stewards hit a 'Bullseye'?

Pesi Shroff

If the walls of the committee room of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) had ears, the racing world would be privy to the final proceedings of the murkiest affair in the history of Indian horse racing, namely, the Bullseye doping affair.


Pesi Shroff

The matter will come up for hearing today in a special meeting of the stewards. Ace jockey-turned-champion trainer Pesi Shroff will be in the dock, and if the RWITC stewards decide to go by past precedence, he may be in for punishment under the clause of 'vicarious liability'. Last December, Bullseye, a filly trained by Shroff, had tested positive for banned substance boldenone after returning from a stud farm, but before entering Shroff's stables.

The crime branch of Mumbai police has reportedly, made some progress in the matter though Intelligence Officer Ajay Sawant refused to divulge details.

The twists in the tale began when Shroff lodged a criminal complaint with Tardeo police against "unknown" perpetrators in January this year, but the case was transferred to the crime branch due to its high-profile nature. Crime branch soon arrested some persons who had travelled with Bullsye to Mumbai on the fateful morning, along with a farrier who was a former employee of the farm, but soon released them.

Meanwhile, 59 horses stationed at the Shroff yard were tested without warning. However, all of them came clean but this action of the stewards was viewed by the racing fraternity as vindictive, and a fall-out of the running feud between former chairman KN Dhunjibhoy who owns Bullseye and Nanoli stud farm and Vivek Jain, the current chairman who replaced him this year.

The gossip mills went into overdrive when in March, Shroff was handed a nine-month suspension, and deviating from the norm, the suspension order was widely publicised by the RWITC authorities by releasing advertisements in the pages of private race books Cole & BOL. The spat between the two chairmen turned so ugly that Vivek Jain had to finally recuse himself from Shroff's inquiry.

mid-day learns that Shroff has demanded to know the details of Jain's interaction with the crime branch, saying that it has vital bearing on his case. However, Shroff refused to either confirm or deny the same, only adding, "the matter is sub-judice, I am advised not to speak to the press."

When asked, inspector Sawant confirmed the interaction with Jain, but refused to divulge details. However, Jain said he had visited the crime branch more than once in connection with this case. Communicating through email, Jain denied either he or any other RWITC steward or official had any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy, and accused his rivals of maliciously spreading rumours.