Although the sudden cancellation of two days of horse-racing due to Cyclone Ockhi’s arrival in the city last week was a financial setback for the Royal Western India Turf Club, the event may have also come as a blessing in disguise for the them.
For, in its bid to compensate for the cancelled Indian 1000 Guineas race day, the RWITC now finds itself conducting the first two Indian classic events of the Indian racing calendar on two consecutive days this weekend, which is a rare occurrence in the sport’s history.
It’s apparent that the club’s marketing team headed by Ram Shroff has also realised this phenomenon as it has doubled their efforts to make most of this golden opportunity.
Small wonder if racegoers, especially the regulars at Mahalaxmi racecourse, get a feeling that the RWITC has brought Christmas early for them!
Carnival racing
The weekend’s racing action starts with the running of the Indian 1000 Guineas which will have three of the best fillies in the country, Lady In Lace, Manifold and Ruffina, likely to provide a value-formoney finish.
Although Castlebridge’s presence makes the 2000 Guineas look a one-horse race on paper, Bataleur and the vastly improved Mygrator have the ability to give the hot favourite a run for his money. While David Allan is already here to guide the fortunes of Ruffina, there will be another David in the fray this season. Pesi Shroff has recruited Welshman Robert Probert, who makes his debut in India, to partner his wards. There is a piece of good news for the Mahalaxmi railbirds. A Sandesh and S Zervan, two of their favourite Indian riders, make their come back this week after suffering serious injuries during individual track accidents last year.
Even the punters have a lot to look forward to in terms of lucky prizes both in cash and in kind. There will be the public favourite Quinella ka Dhamaka which offers Rs 2 lakh to one lucky punter. And, keeping the first enclosure’s public in mind, the club is offering a motorcycle, TV set, mobile phone and a washing machine as prizes through a tote-betting linked contest.
Lost cause
The Karnataka state government responded positively to the high court’s suggestion to allow the resumption of horse-racing and informed the court that it was willing to appoint a committee to regulate the sport’s conduct.
True to its form, the BTC’s administration opposed this suggestion saying that such racing would not be acceptable to the Turf Authorities of India! Looking at BTC’s stance, it appears that it has already given up on the game. Gradually even the racing public has come to live without Bangalore races.
The court will shortly hear the arguments on giving interim relief in this matter on Thursday and its decision will be known soon. But the million dollar question is will any interim relief help racing or the BTC’s cause? Certainly not.
The Karnataka government won’t take the defiant stand taken repeatedly by BTC’s members and its administration lying down.
Therefore, it won’t come as a surprise if the government imposes conditions as harsh as the Maharashtra government did when forced by the Supreme Court to issue licenses to operate dance bars.
Let’s start hoping against hope that sanity prevails in BTC.
