B R Sharan Kumar

The Karnataka Government has filed its objections before the Supreme Court contending that the government had the right to determine the tenure of lease of land occupied by Bangalore Turf Club and that it was under no legal obligation to give land for the club to relocate. It may be recalled that when the Special Leave Petition came up for hearing in Supreme Court earlier this month, the Division Bench had asked the Advocate General of Karnataka if the government was intending to file any counter to the contentions raised by BTC and other petitioners or whether they should proceed with the matter. The Advocate General had sought two weeks’ time and the court had granted the same. The government has in the meanwhile filed its objection and the petitioners including BTC have been given two weeks’ time to reply to the same. Countering all the arguments submitted by the turf club in favour of being retained at the existing place, the government has emphasized that it was under no obligati...

The principle of bookmaking is to accept bets on several horses and maintain a spread which will ensure a profit regardless of the outcome of the race. The assumption to this is that the total amount wagered is equal on most horses or within a certain percentage of equality. An imbalance results in higher amount of risk to bookmakers. The bookmakers are generally known to adjust their prices in an attempt to balance wagering so that they get profit at the end of each race. This is a form of arbitrage. Is this practice still prevalent in India? No says Aashish Abraham, a leading bookmaker in Bangalore. Unlike most Indian bookmakers, Aashish is highly educated, having been a qualified Chartered Accountant. ``In the present scenario where disproportionate money is attracted by only a few horses in a big field that is in the fray, any one going strictly by the principles of bookmaking is exposed to great risk. It is only a matter of time before he winds up. Bookmaking concept worked in t...

Race goers tend to back only favorites. The reasoning is that these horses have more chances of winning simply because they have been backed by the majority. Backing a favourite is a comforting factor for a punter. This is why a punter tends to go with favourites even when logic suggests that he may be making a wrong decision. A day’s result is often analyzed by most writers as to how many favorites won and if most races have been won by them, then they go with the belief that the majority has won. If the majority of races are won by lesser fancied runners, then such violent expressions as ``blood bath’’, ``severe drubbing’’, etc are used. Can we reduce betting so simplistically? The favourite syndrome affects everyone including those who seem logical and believe in rationalizing everything they do. Even the professionals are not free from this trait of feeling that a favourite has a better chance of winning. I have quite often seen trainers being very confident about their horse much...

The victory of Padmanabhan trained Becket in the Gr 1 President of India Gold Cup, the star event of Sunday’s races, was a foregone conclusion as he had beaten a similar set of opponents when conceding weight in the Nizam’s Cup. The only problem with Becket has been the ability of the jockeys riding him to make him relax in the early part and let the horse do the rest in the later part of the race. Jockey Srinath who replaced Suraj Narredu who is under suspension was an ideal foil as he sat still with Becket in the rear before gradually improving places in the straight. Becket took what appeared a difficult gap and then sped away for an effortless win and was eased up long way from home to check in record time of two minutes 32.29 seconds fractionally improving the record of Arabian Knight who had won this event a few years ago. This was the third win for trainer Padmanabhan in this premier event and he had earlier won this event through Zurbaran and Running Flame. Becket was quoted at...

Dr M A M Ramaswamy’s sweep of Mysore 1000 Guineas continues unabated. For the fifth time in a row, a horse owned by the Turf Baron came good as String Along got stronger close home to neck out the front running Couleur Rouge in the closing strides of the race to win the first classic of the season. For trainer Ganapathy who has been running a lean patch, this was the third consecutive win in this premier event which is being run as Karnataka Racehorse Owners’ Association Mysore 1000 Guineas for the last four years. String Along built on the impressive win earlier in the season to win the race close home with fancied Balmoral Castle finishing a tame third. Aprillia, who was strongly favored to win, did not show spark at any stage and the question whether the mile long trip was too long for her comfort is something that cannot be emphatically answered as she was well beaten even before the runners traversed the final furlong. To achieve a landmark is the high point of a sportsman’s caree...

Superstitions are an inseparable part of horse racing. You may believe that all that is required for a horse to win is a good pedigree, conformation, and solid preparation besides the crucial component of ability. But in horse racing, even if the equine has all this, the owners of these powerful animals believe that they need to do more, possibly sit in the same place where they sat when their horses tasted success or repeat the same dress.  India’s biggest racehorse owner Dr M A M Ramaswamy says that he firmly believes in superstition and he has made it a point to wear the same tie for the last 30 years whenever his horses run in classic races. Today, Ramaswamy’s tally of classic wins is a staggering 500 plus while the next highest is that of Dr Vijay Mallya which is close to 200. It is not the power of the tie that makes his horses run faster but it is the belief that the tie is his lucky charm that enables the horse to win given the natural ability of the equine star.  Earl...

The Bangalore Turf Club which is battling for survival got a temporary reprieve when Supreme Court ordered status quo till completion of hearing on Tuesday. The High Court had fixed September 22 as the date for BTC to shut its operations and vacate following the expiry of the lease of land with the government. BTC’s attempt to quash the lease deed by claiming that the land came to them by way of grant and that they were the rightful owners had not found favour with the High Court. The Supreme Court which partly heard the matter has put off the hearing to sometime next month and the same bench will hear the matter again. The matter may come up sometime in the third week of October. The Karnataka Counsel pleaded for time to make his submission following the one made by the Senior Counsels on behalf of Bangalore Turf Club, Karnataka Owners Association, BTC Employees Association and Breeders Association of India (NHBSI). The court is expected to give time for these counsels to reply to the...

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Immense proved too superior to the opposition in the Gr 3 Colts Trial Stakes, the second classic of the season, at Malakpet on Sunday. The progeny of Gaswar asserted himself in the hands of jockey Arshad Asbar who stood in for S John who missed his flight from Kolkata. John’s loss was Arshad’s gain as the young lad went on to record his first classic win. The victory of Immense was so impressive that the Deccan Derby would have been the logical choice for the horse to run but unfortunately, he has not been entered for the plum event and since there is no provision for final entry in Hyderabad, Immense may be targeted for the Mysore Guineas and Derby. Napoleon was the favourite to win along with Kohinoor Wish, Sun Spirit and Rapture of Victory while Immense was allowed to run at nourishing odds possibly due to change of jockey. Immense had run behind Sun Kingdom in the Colts Trial Stakes at Bangalore and the latter narrowly missed winning the Kingfisher Derby. ...

Indian breeding is certainly looking up. Sohna Stud Farm’s resident stallion Noverre has made a big impact in Europe even before his first crop in India is set to race next November. The expectations are high following the success in major graded races of the progeny of Noverre in Europe. Apart from the fact that Indian breeders have invested in big stallions, they have also been successful in obtaining top mares which are sure to boost Indian breeding to a great extent. A number of mares acquired by Indian breeders have produced top quality winners in Europe after these mares had been bought to stand in Indian stud farms. Sohna Stud Farm has been in the news for the success it has been enjoying. The last one year has indeed been a dream run for the stud farm. Both champion filly Jacqueline and champion colt Bekcet who were the horses of the year in 2009-10 hail from the stud farm. Sultan Singh who owns the stud farm with the Thapars has been on cloud nine as apart from Noverre, the ma...

Gambling is an integral part of horse racing. A number of owners thrive on gambles. For them, to smash a horse from a higher quote in the betting ring without many people suspecting the chances of a horse gives greater thrill than winning as a fancied runner. Quite often we have seen horses being worked with a wrong track number to mislead the track reporters and thereby the public to ensure that their horse does not come into the public eye. There are also others who try to work their horses quite early in the day before track reporters troop in hoping that the workout will be missed by them. Those who thrive on gambling also use several indigenous means to hide their horse from public view but such methods are fraught with danger. In racing, if a horse works brilliantly, it may attract the usual share of punters but if the news spreads that a particular horse had been worked in dark, it is possible such a horse may have a larger following than the one which is worked openly during br...