B R Sharan Kumar

The massive setback that racing suffered by virtue of the High Court’s ruling which made it clear that Bangalore Turf Club had to vacate its premises by September 22, 2010 does not seem to have made much impact on the members of the club who are at this point of time busy with electing their kith and kin as members in the elections scheduled to be held on Monday. No body wants to say anything lest the chances of their protégés gets affecting in the elections. In fact, the Chairman of the Club has circulated a letter among members that the High Court decision had more positives for the club as the club had got breathing time and has time to approach the Supreme Court. What is forgotten is that the Court verdict has given finality to BTC’s claims of possession of land by way of grant. At best BTC can bargain for some time but the writing is clear. BTC has to make plans to have an alternate venue in place if racing has to survive in Bangalore Given the mindset of the members and the manag...

The decision of the division bench of High Court of Karnataka, directing BTC to vacate its premises by September 22, 2010 and dismissing its petition against the government for termination of lease has come as a big blow to racing not only in Bangalore but also in India. There is a crisis of leadership at BTC and the present people at the helm seem to be incapable of bailing the club out of the present impasse. The least they can do is to resign, owning moral responsibility for the debacle and pave the way for selection of people of caliber like P G Belliappa to lead the club in this hour of crisis. The internecine quarrels among the present managing committee have only hastened the present scenario. Somehow each of the members of the Managing Committee doesn’t seem to have any credential, commitment or vision barring indulging in petty intrigue. The men who were expected to take the lead in the present managing committee too have been found wanting and are singularly responsible for ...

The Division Bench of Karnataka High Court dismissed BTC’s petition against termination of lease and directed the turf club to vacate the premises by September 22. The High Court has not directed the government to provide alternate land for relocating the existing race course. The government was directed to preserve the BTC premises as an open space and create a mini forest. The court also said that the tank bed area at Chikkajala and Doddajala be preserved as one and said that the land cannot be used for purpose of relocating the race course. The High Court’s judgment thus closed all the escape routes for the beleaguered turf club which is now fighting against the wall for its very survival. The turf club is planning to file a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court against the High Court order. It may be recalled that the government of Karnataka had refused to renew the lease of land beyond December 31, 2009 and had directed the club to shift its activities to Mysore. The governm...

Like a true champion, Jacqueline took pride and pleasure in the thrill of victory and suffered the odd loss with dignity.. She always wanted to be better than the rest and sought challenges and relished the thrill of fulfilling them. Trainer Pesi Shroff pays a tribute to the champion filly as she embarks on a new career in the Nanoli Stud Farm after her glorious conquests on the race track. Every now and then, a trainer is fortunate to get a champion who alters the course of a professional’s life itself. One such wonder horse was Jacqueline, a bay filly by King Charlemagne out of Talita Kumi. Like a true champion, Jacqueline took pride and pleasure in the thrill of victory and suffered the odd loss with dignity.. She always wanted to be better than the rest and sought challenges and relished the thrill of fulfilling them. Endowed with a stout heart and ability that only a few thoroughbreds possessed, Jacqueline achieved what no other race horse in the world accomplished in the long hi...

Monday is BTC’s day of reckoning as the High Court of Karnataka has posted for orders on a batch of writ petitions which will impact racing in India in a big way. The matter has been listed as item number 2 in Court Hall 2 before the division bench of Justice VGopal Gowda and Justice B S Patil. The judgment is expected to be delivered sometime after 10.30 a.m. The Division Bench of High Court had grouped all the petitions pertaining to the race course and the following four cases are expected to be disposed of on Monday, March 22. 1. Petition Number: 31200/2009: Relating to allotment of tank bed area at Chikkajala for purpose of relocating the Bangalore Turf Club. A public interest petition had been field by M K Balakrishnan. 2. Petition Number: 30663/2009: Writ petition field by BTC seeking the declaration that the grant of land made to the race club in 1915 as absolute and quashing the termination of lease by the government. The club has also made an alternate prayer seeking land, ...

Michael Eshwer trained Einstein who had dropped down considerably in scales as a result of him going off the boil, found his galloping shoes as it were and swamped the opposition in the 1200 metres Stewards Trophy, a race for horses rated 80 and above, the feature event of Saturday’s races. The seven year old led all the way and then skipped away from the rest to record a facile win. The form was not clear cut and as such winner picking was more on expectation than on surface form. Cayenne was backed more than the rest, with support coming for Cart Wheel and top weighted Rare And Precious. Jockey Christopher perhaps was an ideal foil for Einstein as both of them had been winless for a long time. Einstein hit the front from the word go and there was a bit of jostling at the start with the winner shifting out and Stone of Destiny doing the reverse, resulting in Cart Wheel being squeezed out. Einstein who had been a performer at the top level in his hey days, kept going in front and won c...

Michael Eshwer trained Einstein who had dropped down considerably in scales as a result of him going off the boil, found his galloping shoes as it were and swamped the opposition in the 1200 metres Stewards Trophy, a race for horses rated 80 and above, the feature event of Saturday’s races. The seven year old led all the way and then skipped away from the rest to record a facile win. The form was not clear cut and as such winner picking was more on expectation than on surface form. Cayenne was backed more than the rest, with support coming for Cart Wheel and top weighted Rare And Precious. Jockey Christopher perhaps was an ideal foil for Einstein as both of them had been winless for a long time. Einstein hit the front from the word go and there was a bit of jostling at the start with the winner shifting out and Stone of Destiny doing the reverse, resulting in Cart Wheel being squeezed out. Einstein who had been a performer at the top level in his hey days, kept going in front and won c...

Padmanabhan trained Topkapi defied the huge penalty he had incurred for his runaway win by claiming the 2200 metres Ashwapriya Cup, a race for horses rated 60 to 85, the main event of Friday’s races with minimum of fuss. Jockey Appu who is not seen much in action these days, was entrusted the responsibility of steering the favourite and he did a pretty decent job of it though the lack of initial pace and the fact that he had to ride the favourite from behind did not go with his patented style. Topkapi was the on money favourite to win with the small made Oban receiving solid support in the ring. The confidence of the punters on Topkapi was such that they were prepared to back the horse with conviction event though jockey Appu hasn’t won a race for a long time. Table Mountain led the field from the start, with Topkapi settled in the penultimate position in what was an excruciatingly slow run race. Rounding the final bend, Topkapi smoothly accelerated and took over the proceedings and sp...

Neil Darashah trained Mighty Heart brought off the biggest upset of Saturday’s races when he won the Kanteerava Cup, a race for horses rated 80 and above, the main event of the day. Mighty Heart who had gone winless for a considerable period of time, won against the run of expectations by having the measure of Lowndes Square and Advantage Logan. Favourite Captivating, who was once a rousing performer, was surprisingly off color and ran out of steam at the final bend and finished dismally. Captivating had such imposing credentials that she was backed spiritedly despite a longish break form racing. She was last seen in action at Delhi where she had finished behind Sprint Star in the North India Derby. It is possible that Captivating who was injured during her sojourn at Delhi lacked the fitness to run against horses which were fitter in comparison. Jockey Prakash took Captivating on a start to finish mission. The daughter of Burden of Proof sent distress signals after straightening for ...

Pesi Shroff trained champion filly Jacqueline has been retired and will probably be covered by Glory of Dancer later this month. Jacqueline who became the only horse in Indian racing history to win four Indian classics including the Indian Derby had a distinguished racing career, having been beaten only thrice in her career. The six outings that she had on the hard Mumbai track during the ongoing season and the energy sapping races in the Derby and the Invitation Cup perhaps took its toll on the queen filly whose joints flared up joints after an epic battle with Becket. ``The only target that we had set for Jacqueline was St Leger and since she will not be ready by that time, we decided to retire her from racing. She has given us immense pleasure by her exploits on the track,’’ said Vijay Shirke who owns the wonder filly in partnership with Khushroo Dhunjibhoy and Berjis Minoo Desai. Jacqueline deserves an affectionate farewell as she embarks on a new career in the stud. ``I always tho...

Becket[ profile ] emerged the King of the Indian turf by dethroning the queen in a well planned coup at the Mahalaxmi on Sunday. The Padmanabhan trained Becket halted the amazing winning sequence of Jacqueline[ profile ] by getting the measure of the filly in the closing strides of the race to lift the Gr 1 Vandrevala Foundation Indian Turf Invitation Cup, the biggest championship event of the Turf Authorities of India. Jacqueline who had won four Indian classics in a row including the Indian Derby was gallant in defeat as she dug deep into her reserves to pull off history defying win. However, Becket who has had an uninterrupted training programme for the last 30 days, proved that he was not going to be denied his rightful due. Incidentally, both Becket and Jacqueline were bred at the Sultan Singh owned Sohna Stud Farm. Jockey Suraj Narredu rode a brilliant finish to record the biggest triumph of his career and thereby justify the confidence of Becket`s owner Haresh Mehta who had deci...

The Capt Jamshed J Appo owned Palazzio`s Sun[ profile ] ended the frustrating wait of his owner to win the coveted Gr 1 Vandrevala Foundation Sprinters Cup by slamming the opposition in splendid fashion on Saturday. English jockey Martin Dwyer rode a peach of a race while guiding the Padmanabhan trainee to thwart the challenge of favourite Forest Flair[ profile ] who was widely expected to emerge as the fastest horse in the country.Incidentally, Palazzio, the dam of Palazzio`s Sun had the mortification of losing this race narrowly in two successive years and the victory of Palazzio`s Sun was a just reward for the versatile race horse who has proved her worth as a broodmare. Captain Jamsshed Appoo had missed winning this race on four occasions, as apart from Palazzio, Lady One and Palazzio`s Sun had come close to winning this prestigious race. The great Oasis Star had won this event for the last two years. The gusty six-year old mare unfortunately died on Friday at Dubai after suffering...

Jacqueline has remained unconquered after her loss by a whisker to Aboline in the Kingfisher Derby. Jacqueline has won an unprecedented four Indian classics in spectacular fashion though her win against Becket in the Indian Derby was achieved with a degree of difficulty. There were several factors that went against Becket while many favored Jacqueline. Can Becket halt Jacqueline`s amazing run in the Gr 1 Vandrevala Foundation Invitation Cup on Sunday? Jacqueline has had an uninterrupted racing career. She has been free from any niggles. Irish jockey Richard Hughes has ridden her with great understanding, not wanting to extract an ounce of extra effort and preserved her enthusiasm intact. Jacqueline won both the Guineas and the Oaks as though she was on a morning stroll. She has a great temperament and knows exactly what is expected of her which makes the job of her jockey easier. She seizes up the opposition, waits for the command from her master and responds with all the resources at ...

The Gr 1 Major P K Mehra Memorial Super Mile is the most competitive race of the Invitation Cup weekend. As many as half a dozen contenders come into the reckoning though in the end it may boil down to Dancing Dynamite, Celestial Way and Diego Rivera. Icebreaker who has been awarded the Horse of the Year title by the Turf Authorities of India, will race in the C N Wadia Gold Trophy the following week. Two of the runners, Sprint Star who has proved his worth over a mile and Sea Star will both run in the Sprinters Cup on Saturday and also figure in this race. Padmanabhan trained Dancing Dynamite won the Super Mile at Hyderabad in October and gets a unique chance of winning this race twice. Dancing Dynamite won a lead up race over a mile at Mahalaxmi in impressive fashion. Unfortunately, he had a mild injury on his tendon during that effort and missed action for a while. However, he showed that everything was right with him in a mock race last week. Dancing Dynamite appears in fine shape...

The Gr 1 Vandrevala Foundation Sprinters Cup has traditionally been a graveyard for favourite though in the last two editions of the race, all time sprinting sensation Oasis Star changed this trend. However, in the 2010 edition of this race, there are no super star n the fray. On current form, Karthik Ganapathy trained Forest Flair has an edge over the opposition. The speedy son of Diffident out of Tide of Fortune Forest Flair has done everything right leading to this race. The dam of Tide of Fortune herself was a top class sprinter and was fancied to win the Sprinters Cup several years ago at Hyderabad . Forest Flair won the Dr S C Jain Sprinters Cup which has been a big pointer for this race, holding off the threat of Sea Star and Portrush. Forest Flair has always done just enough to win and as such, his wins have never been spectacular. He is endowed with a tremendous burst of speed and it is this trait which is going to help him as he makes his rally from behind in what is going to...

Padmanabhan trained Classerville who is out of an Oaks winner has the class to make his mark in the Gr 1 Vandrevala Foundation Stayers Cup over the grueling trip of 3000 metres which is slated to be held on Saturday. The Stayers Cup has an open look about it as barring Conceptual who is the winner of Leger at Bangalore and Hyderabad ; the other runners are not proven stayers. Conceptual came into limelight with a victory in the Bangalore St Leger when least expected. She beat the likes of Spark of Gold and Icebreaker on that occasion. Since then Conceptual’s reputation is built as a stayer of repute though she hasn’t won any race since October after winning the Golconda St Leger. Spark of Gold ran a mighty race when going down to Noble Prince by a whisker in his last effort. He has the experience of going over the Leger trip when he finished second to Conceptual. The 3000 metres trip places an additional premium on his staying ability though his trainer Prasanna Kumar is pretty optim...

The Indian Turf Invitation Cup weekend races are the most eagerly looked forward to event in the Indian Racing Calendar. The best horses in the country are invited to participate in the race to decide the champion of champions. While the Indian Derby has unrivalled glamour, the Indian Turf Invitation Cup has held its own fascination for race horse owners and the professionals as well. The winner of this race also used to get the additional tag of being declared the Horse of the Year by the Turf Authorities of India which has since been changed. The award is now given based on points and Icebreaker who was owned by Capt Jamshed J Appoo in partnership with the Poonawallas is the first horse to win under the new system. The Indian Turf Invitation Cup was first run in 1963 at Mahalaxmi. Designed as a championship event over the classic distance of 2400 metres, the race was programmed to rotate annually among the three turf authorities of India that were existing when this race was first r...