Winter season should start without a hitch
The highlight of the Bangalore Winter Season, scheduled to start on Friday, November 5, is the fact that the season will start without the usual strife that characterized the start of any season in Bangalore. Strikes are no longer acceptable especially after the fracas of the summer season which resulted in several days of the season being cancelled. There is very little sympathy for any strike. More importantly, the contentious issues have been sorted out paving the way for smooth start to the season. There is some increase in incentives for local horses and winners of horses bred in Karnataka while the stakes have been retained at the old level. The turf club is also keen on shoring up its resources and as such, there is creation of profit which is being transferred to the reserve pool.
The prospectus condition of one per cent of winning stake towards Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association will continue despite protestations by several owners who had given a letter to this effect to the Bangalore Turf Club. The turf club was to remove this from the prospectus condition but they have compromised on this as the new composition of the Managing Committee was keener to get on with the game rather than get embroiled in old controversies. However, the turf club must be made the custodians of this money which is forcefully being contributed by reluctant owners to this fund and they should have their representatives overseeing the expenditure from the money raised through this measure. Checks and balances does not do anybody harm.
The winter season should be more competitive because the spread of horses with the trainers is comparatively better than in previous years. No stable can hope to have one-sided dominance. Trainer Ganapathy reigned supreme before his hold on trainers’ championship ended last year when trainer Padmanabhan won the championship for both summer and winter seasons. The trend was maintained this summer season, with Iran Ghatala just about edging out Jaggy Dhariwal from that position. It is quite possible that the last two named may once again be involved in the fight for top honors given the fact that they have more horses than the rest. Trainer Padmanabhan is bound to race several of his horses at Mumbai. Champion horse Becket is expected to race at Dubai.
There not many sweepstakes during the season as is the case during the summer season. With more horses campaigned at Kolkata and Mumbai, there could be shortfall for entries in big races. Last year, the Stayers Trial Stakes was declared void as just two horses were left in the fray. The BTC has stopped paying BTF to horses which are permanently based in Kolkata during the winter season and come back only for summering. If the horses are sent to participate in ordinary races outside of Bangalore for extended period of time, they should also lose the tag of being local horses.
The good news is that the quality of two year olds on view this season appears to be good. More trainers are blessed with a good stock. The two year olds are looking well which means that there will be keen competition in races meant for juveniles. Not many races are framed for juveniles in the first month and the first two week’s races do not feature any race for two-year olds.
Though the turf club is facing the threat of eviction following the High Court mandate of clearing the premises by September 22, the winter season should go through without any hiccup. BTC has taken the battle with the government to the Supreme Court. The matter is to come before the Registrar of Supreme Court for scrutiny of documents on December 6 and the club can bargain for more time before the matter comes up before the bench. The matter is expected to drag on and BTC may get relief for a few years but the important thing is that the present race courses is congested and efforts must be made to find an alternative venue which could provide fine environment for both horses and those who patronize it.
Surely there is need for long term planning. Vision 2015 at least could be a realistic target.
The prospectus condition of one per cent of winning stake towards Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association will continue despite protestations by several owners who had given a letter to this effect to the Bangalore Turf Club. The turf club was to remove this from the prospectus condition but they have compromised on this as the new composition of the Managing Committee was keener to get on with the game rather than get embroiled in old controversies. However, the turf club must be made the custodians of this money which is forcefully being contributed by reluctant owners to this fund and they should have their representatives overseeing the expenditure from the money raised through this measure. Checks and balances does not do anybody harm.
The winter season should be more competitive because the spread of horses with the trainers is comparatively better than in previous years. No stable can hope to have one-sided dominance. Trainer Ganapathy reigned supreme before his hold on trainers’ championship ended last year when trainer Padmanabhan won the championship for both summer and winter seasons. The trend was maintained this summer season, with Iran Ghatala just about edging out Jaggy Dhariwal from that position. It is quite possible that the last two named may once again be involved in the fight for top honors given the fact that they have more horses than the rest. Trainer Padmanabhan is bound to race several of his horses at Mumbai. Champion horse Becket is expected to race at Dubai.
There not many sweepstakes during the season as is the case during the summer season. With more horses campaigned at Kolkata and Mumbai, there could be shortfall for entries in big races. Last year, the Stayers Trial Stakes was declared void as just two horses were left in the fray. The BTC has stopped paying BTF to horses which are permanently based in Kolkata during the winter season and come back only for summering. If the horses are sent to participate in ordinary races outside of Bangalore for extended period of time, they should also lose the tag of being local horses.
The good news is that the quality of two year olds on view this season appears to be good. More trainers are blessed with a good stock. The two year olds are looking well which means that there will be keen competition in races meant for juveniles. Not many races are framed for juveniles in the first month and the first two week’s races do not feature any race for two-year olds.
Though the turf club is facing the threat of eviction following the High Court mandate of clearing the premises by September 22, the winter season should go through without any hiccup. BTC has taken the battle with the government to the Supreme Court. The matter is to come before the Registrar of Supreme Court for scrutiny of documents on December 6 and the club can bargain for more time before the matter comes up before the bench. The matter is expected to drag on and BTC may get relief for a few years but the important thing is that the present race courses is congested and efforts must be made to find an alternative venue which could provide fine environment for both horses and those who patronize it.
Surely there is need for long term planning. Vision 2015 at least could be a realistic target.
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