Of failed gambles and tears in eyes!
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 broad daylight. For the uninitiated, horses are given workouts starting from 5.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. in order to get them fit to race. Hidden virtues have greater relevance in racing than known merit.
One of the leading trainers in Mumbai was preparing a horse for a big gamble. As was the practice, he sent the horse early in the morning when the fog cover had not lifted. The track work was not reported in the papers. The trainer and the jockey concerned informed the owner that they were on the verge of bringing off a big gamble as the horse they were preparing worked brilliantly. The owner did not see any track work in the newspapers and he was puzzled. He asked the trainer and jockey concerned as to why the work out was not reported if the horse worked so brilliantly. They replied that they worked the horse in dark. The jockey said that the horse went so fast that teas came in his eyes! The horse was worked yet again just a few days prior to the race day in similar fashion and the jockey repeated yet again that he had tears in his eyes. The race day came and expectedly the horse was backed down spiritedly but the horse finished down the field. This time it was the turn of the owner to go and tell the trainer and jockey that their strategy had brought tears in his eyes instead!
Training a race horse is a trial and error exercise. One of the senior trainers in the country said that he had a horse which used to run like a champion like the final stages of the race but would falter thereafter due to crowd noise. The trainer thought that packing the ears of the horse could work and it did. Thereafter whenever the horse was out for an airing, the ear packing was removed and when the horse was run with a serious chance, the ear plug was put back. This way the said horse won about six races. Use of ear plugs officially is not permitted though the present day, the blinkers come in such size and shape that a horse which gets distracted can be set right by the use of correct equipment.
A leading trainer was once told to give a run for his horse by his owner when the horse was spot on for the race. The usual method is to feed the horse (stuff the horse in racing parlance) before the race. Sometimes tubing (inserting a tube through the mouth and bloating the stomach with water) is also resorted to by some crude trainers. But to the surprise of the trainer, the horse bolted in and won convincingly. This had the trainer thinking. Did the horse run well with a full stomach? He discovered to his surprise that whenever the horse ran with light feed, it ran poorly but when it was fed and sent, it ran brilliantly contrary to the normal practice.
One of India’s foremost jockeys in the country had prepared a horse for a touch and was pretty confident that it would bolt in. The owner apparently had a big bet on the horse but to his chagrin, the price kept on increasing and went up more than 200 times. He panicked and believed that the horse may have been got at. He took back some of his bet at higher odds and since the owner was taking back his bet at higher odds than the one he had backed, the price shot up like the mercury does during summer! The said horse won like a champion and instead of celebrating the victory of the horse, the owner had to beat a hasty retreat out of the racing itself! He had incurred a huge debt which saw him quit racing.
Horses have a mind of their own and they defeat the best possible devious intent if they try to meddle with their natural instinct of running as fast they as they can! Because good horses do their job!
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 broad daylight. For the uninitiated, horses are given workouts starting from 5.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. in order to get them fit to race. Hidden virtues have greater relevance in racing than known merit.
One of the leading trainers in Mumbai was preparing a horse for a big gamble. As was the practice, he sent the horse early in the morning when the fog cover had not lifted. The track work was not reported in the papers. The trainer and the jockey concerned informed the owner that they were on the verge of bringing off a big gamble as the horse they were preparing worked brilliantly. The owner did not see any track work in the newspapers and he was puzzled. He asked the trainer and jockey concerned as to why the work out was not reported if the horse worked so brilliantly. They replied that they worked the horse in dark. The jockey said that the horse went so fast that teas came in his eyes! The horse was worked yet again just a few days prior to the race day in similar fashion and the jockey repeated yet again that he had tears in his eyes. The race day came and expectedly the horse was backed down spiritedly but the horse finished down the field. This time it was the turn of the owner to go and tell the trainer and jockey that their strategy had brought tears in his eyes instead!
Training a race horse is a trial and error exercise. One of the senior trainers in the country said that he had a horse which used to run like a champion like the final stages of the race but would falter thereafter due to crowd noise. The trainer thought that packing the ears of the horse could work and it did. Thereafter whenever the horse was out for an airing, the ear packing was removed and when the horse was run with a serious chance, the ear plug was put back. This way the said horse won about six races. Use of ear plugs officially is not permitted though the present day, the blinkers come in such size and shape that a horse which gets distracted can be set right by the use of correct equipment.
A leading trainer was once told to give a run for his horse by his owner when the horse was spot on for the race. The usual method is to feed the horse (stuff the horse in racing parlance) before the race. Sometimes tubing (inserting a tube through the mouth and bloating the stomach with water) is also resorted to by some crude trainers. But to the surprise of the trainer, the horse bolted in and won convincingly. This had the trainer thinking. Did the horse run well with a full stomach? He discovered to his surprise that whenever the horse ran with light feed, it ran poorly but when it was fed and sent, it ran brilliantly contrary to the normal practice.
One of India’s foremost jockeys in the country had prepared a horse for a touch and was pretty confident that it would bolt in. The owner apparently had a big bet on the horse but to his chagrin, the price kept on increasing and went up more than 200 times. He panicked and believed that the horse may have been got at. He took back some of his bet at higher odds and since the owner was taking back his bet at higher odds than the one he had backed, the price shot up like the mercury does during summer! The said horse won like a champion and instead of celebrating the victory of the horse, the owner had to beat a hasty retreat out of the racing itself! He had incurred a huge debt which saw him quit racing.
Horses have a mind of their own and they defeat the best possible devious intent if they try to meddle with their natural instinct of running as fast they as they can! Because good horses do their job!
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