Mumbai: Irish jockey checks out of hotel, leaves city abruptly

Racing circles are abuzz with the news that Leigh Roche a wellknown Irish jockey contracted to ride for ace trainer Pesi Shroff left Mumbai abruptly on the midnight of February 17 without informing him He allegedly also did not inform the front desk of the swanky Tardeo hotel where he was given accommodation by Shroff through his stay in MumbaiAn email communication from the hotel to Indian racings most highprofile professional Mumbais Pesi Shroff a copy of which is with midday states This is to inform you that Leigh Roche has left the hotel with all his belongings without informing the reception staff midnight on 17022020As per your instruction regarding the billing you mentioned in the belowmail that he will be settling his bill from 03022020 which includes room stay and extras same was informed to the guest at front desk and to that he agreed to pay upon the entire bill room stay from 03022020 plus extras But it came to our knowledge that Mr Roche has left at midnight without settling his room stay from 030220 and extras Above are attachment of Mr Roches room stay from the day he checked in until 180220 amp extrasKindly guide us for the billing instructions as we need to close this as soon as possibleThe hotel refused to confirm or deny the communication saying they are not supposed to reveal any data about guestsChampion trainer Pesi ShroffShroff was wary about divulging details claiming an inquiry is on in the matter and I cannot speak He did confirm though that Roche was riding for him A controversy erupted on February 1 when an angry Shroff accused Roche of not riding a mount trained by him satisfactorily Shroff told Roche that he could no longer ride for him That is when they had a verbal agreement in front of the hotel desk that Roche would clear his own bill henceforth for his accommodation Till then Shroff was footing the accommodation bill as is the rule when a foreign jockey or a jockey from outside Mumbai is contracted to ride for certain trainerownersGoodbye MumbaiAccording to the email communication Roche upped and went in the dark of night without informing the hotel It has been learnt that the outstanding bill is in the region of R25 lakh though with both the hotel and Shroff reluctant to speak this could not be verified A source said that Shroff is livid not at the amount of money which he will pay but the fact that Roche did not honour his commitment and left without informing anybody at the hotelThe Royal Western India Turf Club RWITC officials prevaricated when asked if they had received the hotel communication about Roche We may have got it I do not know Maybe it the email has come from some unknown account an official said A professional told this reporter Keep me out of thisAnother club official claimed According to procedure Pesi Shroff has to foot the bill as Leigh Roche was his jockey We cannot comment further We can only confirm that there was an inquiry about his riding and the matter is subjudiceQuestions ruleLa affaire Leigh Roche started on February 1 when the stewards of the club stewards of racing clubs oversee race meetings to ensure fair and clean racing started an inquiry into the riding of two fancied horses One of those inquiries was about Roches riding atop the Pesi Shroff trained horse Valegro The stewards viewed the charges of unsatisfactory riding and concluded he was guilty resulting in a 12day suspension for Roche He decided not to appeal the suspension using the Board of Appeals Roche did not respond to numerous calls seeking his side of the story He responded by WhatsApp message saying I have no comments17 FebWhen Leigh Roche left Mumbai at midnightInputs by Prakash GosaviCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates