Saturday’s races were cancelled after the running of the fifth
race as the jockeys refused to ride, forcing the hands of authorities
whose moral authority is totally compromised, to yield to their demand.
In the meanwhile, jockey Prakash dented his popularity with a
questionable ride on favorite Evatina whose odds drifted from a quote of
10 to 6 on to eventually close almost at 3/1, with place prize offered
being as generous as 7/4, reason enough to warrant an enquiry. The bookmakers obviously knew the shape of
things to come but most race goers kept backing the filly on the basis
of the outstanding merit that she had and became victims of what
obviously was a foul play.
Jockey Prakash took a slow jump, which is his patent whenever he is not
serious, and stayed put there till turning for home. Without any
apparent effort on the part of the jockey, Evatina was full of running
to be a close sixth in a blanket finish for third place. Romantic
Fire whose odds slumped dramatically edged out the front-running Iberian
in the shadow of the post. Jockey Prakash who has everything going for
him, winning races by the bagful, certainly did not endear himself to
one and all and these sorts of blemishes will prevent him from getting
his share of the credit when he calls it a day. Instead of setting
standards, Prakash dealt a cruel blow to those who still believe that
racing after all is a game of skill and not deceit.
The word conscience does not seem to exist in the book of professionals.
The penetrometer reading at the time of cancellation was 5.8 cms. The
BTC officially has classified the going up to 5.5 cms. as good going,
between 5.5 and 6.5 as soft going and beyond that as heavy going. It has
not specified as to when the ground becomes unsuitable for racing.
Bangalore Summer Season is always held in soft to heavy underfoot
conditions on most occasions and many years ago, when Ministrella won
the Derby; she literally swam her way to victory! At this rate, the
Bangalore Turf Club may well have to cancel most of their racing
programme to suit the demands of the jockeys whose whims rule the roost.
The regular Mysore Racing Season, which starts in August, is held in
difficult conditions due to the monsoon being very active and the Pune races
have been held on rain-soaked monsoon conditions. It remains to be seen
how the jockeys react to these situations now that they find even 5.8
cms. penetrometer reading as dangerous. The clubs are well advised to
cancel their monsoon seasons so that at least the hapless punters are
saved off their precious and hard earned money.
I have been in the field for well over a decade and I haven’t found a
soft track proving to be the undoing of a jockey or a horse. There have
been more accidents and breakdowns of horses when the going has been
perfectly normal. The BTC would serve its cause well if it releases the
list of mishaps that have happened in the last decade and those specific
to soft underfoot conditions so that race goers can put their decision
in proper perspective.
Does the BTC have a perspective at all is the question?
