A mislaid gardening tool has caused the first ever no-race ruling in the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s illustrious 132-year history.

On Wednesday night, the Happy Valley racecourse was forced to void all wagers on a Class Four sprint as well as the card’s Jockey Challenge after an errant rake prevented eight of the 12 stall gates from opening on time.

A post mortem examination of the incident revealed that a track worker leaned his rake against the side of the stalls after performing routine maintenance on the track following the previous race. Rakes are normally stored in a gap in the barrier structure but on this occasion the rake was stored in a more upright position than usual.

The HKJC declared the result as a no-race, forcing them to refund a total of HKD 126m (US $16.2m) that had been wagered. The Jockey Challenge, which ordinarily attracts between HKD 8m-11m, was abandoned. Multi-pool bets were paid out according to consolation rules.