Conflict between logic and irrational at race courses

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.

 Earlier this year, Jacqueline set a new record by winning four Indian classics in a row. Two of the part-owners, Berjis Minoo Desai and Deepa Dhunjibhoy wore the same dress on all four occasions and also sat at the same place when the race was run. For a non-believer, some of the practices may appear bizarre but then this is what drives most racegoers. 

 Interestingly, quite a few of these superstitions are shared beliefs while some others are specific to the country of their origin and these determine what is lucky and what is not. In cricket, we have had Australian captain Bill Lawry who scored a century in the first Test against South Africa and he reportedly did not wash the clothes and wore the same dress right throughout the series lest the luck was washed away! Similarly, our own Sunil Gavaskar was known to wear something new each time he went in to bat. Mohinder Amarnath always had a red handkerchief dangling out from his hip pocket. 

 A race-goer never parts with money on race days. If he has to make any payment, he would rather do it on a non-race day because he believes that giving out money on race day will bring bad luck and he may end up parting with all his money at the end of the day! If a cat crosses the path of a gambler, he would rather wait till some other person has crossed over so that the bad luck of the cat crossing does not affect him! A horseshoe, especially the steel shoe, worn by an all-black horse is considered a lucky charm and you can see the horseshoe being nailed in front of a lot of houses. This belief is not exclusive to racegoers.

 In India, the horse has been a sign of power and prosperity and in the Hindu mythologies, the horse is a recurring motif. Many gamblers believe that sharing information may bring them bad luck and thus they develop negative traits of deceitfulness that makes them lie about their intentions. Some of the biggest racehorse owners in the country, however, philanthropic they may be outside the racecourse, are not so generous when it comes to sharing information on a possible winner. 

 Gamblers have greater trust in factors other than merit and they believe that playing a horse of a particular number can bring them luck which the psychologists put as a cognitive error. If a gambler has been successful having started the day eating food at a particular restaurant, he may repeat the same practice till his luck runs out! Indians are big believers in superstitions but Chinese being bigger gamblers, have a huge list of dos and don’ts before they venture out to gamble. They will never enter the gambling venue from the main entrance. And during gambling as well, they are governed by certain self-imposed guidelines. The funniest among these is wearing red underwear while gambling! 

 Indian racegoers don’t count their profits before the end of the day’s racing nor do they announce that they have made money. They keep saying that they have been hit by an evil eye so much so that they are losing all the time even if they have hit a jackpot. Another superstition is to avoid meeting a particular person whom they think brings bad luck or shaking hands lest their good luck is passed on. Some others eat before a bet and after a bet as well. Some believe only in numerology and some others in astrology, mathematical factors, or on pedigree alone. 

 A curious onlooker can see a conflict between logic and irrational. If a racegoer has won on a consistent basis during a day, he would look at what transpired during the day and try to duplicate the same process the next day. I have often seen a punter change places in each race in order to improve his ``vaastu’’. One of the leading trainers in Bangalore lost six bets in England in succession but was lucky with the seventh one. To the surprise of his colleague who was with him, he took out the ticket from his stockings! The trainer said that he had lost when he had put the ticket in his pockets and hence searched for a new place to keep the ticket for a change of luck! Gambling and superstition are inseparable.

 Indians have gambling in their genes. It may take different forms of expression like gambling on horses or on cricket or in shares. Even the most virtuous man of our Mahabharata, the Yudischira (Dharmaraja) was after all the biggest gambler of them all! .