KEY POINTS:
The TAB is to refund bets in the case of a pacer who lined up in a trotting event by mistake.
Instead of The Boy Wonder lining up in race one at the Forbury Park Trotting Club on June 14, stablemate Arceejay started instead.
Arceejay is a pacer and had never raced as a trotter, which involves a different gait. He could not trot properly and was pulled up shortly after the start of the race.
The New Zealand Racing Board and Harness Racing New Zealand said yesterday they would jointly refund the cost of win or place bets, or a proportion of the bet type for any bet where the horse featured in a customer's combination.
Racing Board chief executive Graeme Hansen said TAB account-holders who placed bets on The Boy Wonder would have the cost of their bet credited to their TAB customer account.
"For cash bets placed in TAB retail outlets or on-course, customers making claims should complete a TAB claim form.
"However, the TAB will require supporting evidence such as where the bet was purchased and at what time, or a copy of the bet slip to verify the claim before any refund is made," Hansen said.
Harness Racing New Zealand general manager Edward Rennell said the incident was extremely unfortunate for punters and appropriate steps would be taken to ensure it didn't happen again.
Ironically, the real The Boy Wonder won race one at Forbury last night.
- NZPA
