B R Sharan Kumar

  The curse of BTC election for members   By Sharan Kumar   Members are inducted into almost all race clubs in the country based on their credentials after being in the queue till such time the Managing Committee feels that the time is ripe for inducting new members to the club. The size of the membership of the club is dependent on the size of the club. Clubs like Royal Western India Turf Club and Madras Race Club have about 1000 members.   In recent times, the Madras Race Club inducted in excess of 200 members. The criteria were simple: the applicant had to pay the requisite fee of about Rs 8 lakhs plus GST besides having an interest in the sport. That is the way it should be. Expansion of the club also fetches revenue to the club and only those who are keen will apply for membership. After all race clubs are not service clubs but clubs run for a specific purpose. In this case, to conduct the sport of horse racing.   Essentially, a race club should have member...

  Racing can slip into a deep coma   By Sharan Kumar One is not sure how proactive the Turf Authorities of India are in finding solutions to prevent the impending TDS regime set to kick in April. Instead of the old scheme under which TDS was deducted only on earnings of more than Rs 10,000 on one ticket, the new system envisages payment of TDS once the earnings cross Rs 10,000. Under the new regime, the onus is on the club to deduct the TDS and hence the clubs are expected to maintain the KYC of all its punters.   The deduction is not under 194 A under which you can set off losses against income. The TDS is under 195 BB which means that the money that you earn is considered a windfall gain and it cannot be set off against losses. The money deducted is gone out of the system for good. In the absence of KYC, all winnings will have to be taxed. As a result, the punter may end up giving money out of his pocket when he has played a short-priced favourite. The taxing ...

  Can you back online on Bangalore races? By Sharan Kumar Can you back online on Bangalore races? This is the question that is being posted by racegoers on our public form repeatedly. The government of Karnataka has not given permission for BTC to conduct online betting on its races. The turf club uses this as the reason for not letting other turf clubs in India conduct online betting on Bangalore races possibly as it does not want the other clubs to benefit. The club has not clarified that it is barred from letting others conduct online betting on its races.     BTC perhaps is right in not allowing other clubs to conduct online betting whether the government has denied permission for the host club. But can the BTC clarify whether the government has given it permission to allow online betting by app-based websites stationed outside of India?   The turf club has sold signals to a foreign entity for a small sum after signing a long contract when it could ha...

  Making a mockery of Invitation Cup   By Sharan Kumar When one peruses the list of competitors for the fray in the Gr 1 Indian Turf Invitation Cup race to be held on Sunday, there is one intriguing entry in Blazing Bay who is a winner of a 4 to 30 handicap race. The horses which run in the fray are all nominees of different turf clubs and one presumes that these horses meet certain standards. In races like Kentucky Derby, there is an eligibility criterion. Horses would qualify only if they have accumulated certain specified points from the races prior to the Derby. However, there is no such restriction in India though after the last running of the Indian Derby which had 18 runners resulting in the best horses having their chances diluted by the wide outside and the crowding of the field in the straight of the horses falling back, there is a demand that minimum qualifications have to be imposed in order to qualify to run the Derby. Be that as it may, the Invitation C...

  Elpenor wins Poonawalla Million in breath-taking fashion Sulaiman Attaollahi trained Elpenor won the Gr 1 Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million, a terms race for three-year-olds, the biggest race for first season runners, in breath-taking fashion at the Mahalakshmi on Sunday. The progeny of Elpenor unleashed such a devastating turn of foot that it had the entire opposition stranded. Elpenor cut a fast timing of one minute 21.542 seconds with jockey Suraj Narredu not having to go all out.   By Sharan Kumar Sulaiman Attaollahi trained Elpenor won the Gr 1 Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million, a terms race for three-year-olds, the biggest race for first-season runners, in breath-taking fashion at the Mahalakshmi on Sunday. The progeny of Elpenor unleashed such a devastating turn of foot that it had the entire opposition stranded. Elpenor cut a fast timing of one minute 21.542 seconds with jockey Suraj Narredu not having to go all out. Suraj thus fulfilled his long-standing...

  Dress as you feel says British Jockey Club, drops regulations By Rolf Johnson   I would feel I was undressed if I went racing without wearing my Indian Invitation Cup necktie, brown with the insignia of each Indian race club picked out in gold. India’s aristocracy were ‘posh’ well before the British took their voyages back and forth to the Empire. That travel had to be First Class -  P ort  O ut,  S tarboard  H ome and the word was added to the English language.   The British Jockey Club has relaxed its Rules on Dress Codes, except at Royal Ascot and the Queen Elizabeth Grandstand on Derby Day when morning suits with waistcoats and top hats remain obligatory. Now nearly anything goes and ‘Posh’ is a dirty word. Is it old-fashioned to regret decline in standards, or must we acknowledge that times have changed and people must be permitted freedom of choice? You judge.   “C’mon Dover! Move your bloomin’ arse!” blew the cover of common...

  Turf Clubs should give serious attention to glitches By Sharan Kumar Ever since the turf clubs in India stopped using the satellites for telecasting races between centres and went for the P2P system of communication to relay races through the internet to cut costs, there have been many glitches. The streaming is not continuous and often, there is a shocking delay, with some racecourses getting the relay well after the race has been completed.   Recently the Madras Race Club had to refund all the bets of the last race of Mumbai racing because the relay of races did not sync with real-time. Even at Kolkata, the relay of the last race of Mumbai racing was yet to start but the race had been completed.   Our Kolkata correspondent reports: `` The Mumbai inter-venue betting in RCTC, witnessed a strange operation of live streaming of the last event starting much after the race results became common knowledge, through private channels. The RCTC bookmakers got a ...