For the first time in the history of 144 years of the prestigious Governor’s Cup horse race meet, the final outcome of the main race was decided as canceled after an objection raised by a jockey. The 144th edition of the most looked-forward-to horse race event was held on April 15 at the Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya with 11 competitors vying for supremacy. Later it was decided by the race officials that the Governor’s Cup race will be held again on April 21. However the remaining seven races lined up for the day was held as planned.
The conclusion of the Governor’s Cup – the 9 furlong race for Thoroughbred Class I horses held at 12.00noon – experienced a delayed start after the starters had to force the horses into its respective starting cages. The race was however a tremendous glee for Deepthika Jayakody who’s all three competing horses swept the first three spots. Charlatan ridden by P. Trevor while Roswald ridden by Imran Chisty and Alcazaba ridden by S.D. Mahesh finished among the top three while last year’s winner Atlantus ridden by Melvyn Maseyk could not finish the race.
However soon after the race was completed the organizers of the event, Sri Lanka Turf Club (SLTC), made an announcement that it had received an objection from a jockey. Later after a lengthy meeting of the Board of Stewards of the SLTC it was announced that the race has had a false start and it would be re-run on April 21 as the main event of the day at the Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya.
