Mumbai racecourse drama: Anya Shroff vetoed out of club membership

Just when champion trainer Pesi Shroff was getting ready to appeal against the Royal Western India Turf Club RWITC stewards decision to suspend him for nine months for his filly Bullseye testing positive for a banned drug comes the news that his daughter Anya an amateur rider was blackballed by one of the nine committee members of the club when she applied for club membership last month A blackball means a veto or negative vote Incidentally Anya is already a life member of the apex racing club She had applied to move to the fold of club member which means she would have voting rightsYoung rider If Anya Shroff 19 became a lsquoclub memberrsquo she would have voting rights File picVotesThis though does not mean that Anya 19 application has been rejected because as per change in notification effected on May 1 2006 a person will be ineligible for membership only if he or she receives three negative NO votesCool moves and some controversy The entertainment at Mahalaxmi during Derby day This hiprofile club has seen its share of controversies and ego battles The letter written by Additional Secretary of RWITC NHS Mani informing all committee members about the findings of the ballot held for the purpose a copy of which is with MiDDAY states All nine committee members had cast their votes out of 17 candidates 16 candidates have received nine YES sic votes and one candidate namely Miss Anya P Shroff has received eight YES votes and one NO voteBOOK LOOK Punters looking at the racebook Cole often called the punters bible Pesi Shroff simply said If true this is very sad My daughter is too young and innocent I request you to keep her out of thisShockedVivek Jain chairman RWITC stated I am shocked by this revelation She Anya comes from a family with racing background and in fact I was the first to welcome her and say she didnt need an introduction when she appeared for the interview There is definitely something more here than meets the eye I think our members and the racing public are intelligent enough to read between the lines There have already been attempts to malign my image recently and this smells like a conspiracy to discredit me and my supporters on the committeeCommittee member and former RWITC chairman K N Dhunjibhoy said that This is absurd I would think she Anya was the most eligible among the 17 candidates who were interviewed for club membership that day She rides every morning and evening she attends the races and she comes from a horse loving family This is not done to a 19year old innocent girl only a person full of vindictiveness can think of doing it When told that some on the committee termed this as a conspiracy Dhunjibhoy retorted Let there be a polygraph test for all At least once and for all the racing public will know who has been lying all the timeDADDY DEAREST Pesi Shroff is now a top trainerGulamhusein Vahanvaty committee member joined the conspiracy chorus when he reacted I am absolutely shocked Pesi Shroffs daughter is a welcome addition to the club I cant imagine why anyone would do it This smacks of a conspiracyCommittee members Geoffrey Nagpal and Jaydev Mody reacted with surprise and shock with the former asking Are you sure I dont think its true This may be a rumour you better check it while Mody said My God really I am surprised and shockedFour of the nine committee members who voted by secret ballot were unavailable for comment These were Champaklal Zaveri Ram Shroff S C Jain and Shyam RuiaBullseyeThe conspiracy theory may stem from the fact that Pesi Shroff is staring at a ninemonth suspension for vicarious liability on account of his filly Bullseye testing positive for banned drug Boldenone while returning from Nanoli stud farm in December last year Pesi has filed his appeal against the RWITC stewards decision with the Board of Appeal BoA of the club and the matter is scheduled to come up for hearing on April 18Dhunjibhoy Bullseye owner and Nanoli stud farm owner had called Pesis ninemonth suspension perverse and unprecedented accusing his arch rival current chairman Vivek Jain of being biased against him his farm and his trainer In a recent ruling last week related to the same case the RWITC stewards also imposed a twoyear ban on all horses coming from Nanoli stud farm in effect putting a check on movement of racehorses visiting the farm for restBattleThe battlelines were clearly drawn when the race club also took another unprecedented step when it released Pesis detailed suspension order as advertisement in Cole race book and also published the detailed minutes of that particular meeting on its official website from where popular racing websites Indiaracecom and RacingPulsein picked them up for republication giving rise to ferocious debate in the racing fraternity divided into two camps one proPesi and the other proRWITCAgainst this backdrop it is no wonder that one negative vote on Anya application has stirred a hornets nest Rumours are flying as to who of the nine gentlemen did not want Pesi s daughter as club member Accusations of vendetta and counteraccusations of conspiracy indicate that the august clubs hallowed committee room will stay a divided house for a long time from now or at least until the next general body elections due in December this year