Aslam Kader finds himself in the dock 
for winning astride The Pelican

By Usman Rangila

When Aslam Kader won in brilliant fashion aboard The Pelican at Pune last Sunday (Sep 6), he was showered with lavish praise not only by the owner and trainer of the horse but also by the majority crowd in attendance at the racecourse. Even the media did not lag behind in giving due credit to Aslam. But, can Aslam be portrayed both as a hero and a villain at the same time? Some confused critics think so.
The Pelican ( Aslam K ), winning The Parx-General Rajendrasinhji Trophy from Name Of Love (C Ruzzan up)

While giving Aslam Kader the credit for his “powerhouse” riding atop The Pelican in the Parx-General Rajendrasinhji Trophy on Sunday, his critics are unnecessarily accusing him of excessive whipping. They blame him first for having made free use of the whip on The Pelican all the way up the straight, secondly for giving sixteen solid whacks to his mount and finally for the excessive pain-stinging backhanders to the horse on his way to glory. Aslam’s “fan following” also holds a grudge against the RWITC Stewards for imposing a fine of only Rs.1000 for his excessive whipping on The Pelican and feel that it is a piffling(?) sum. 

Upset over these attempts to project him as a whip-happy jockey who would go any extent to win a race, even if that means being cruel to the horse, jockey Aslam Kader refuted these insinuations and defended himself while speaking to The Asian Age over the phone from Bangalore. Aslam clarified that: “Just a day earlier, I won the Eve Champion Trophy astride Al Dente and if you notice carefully, I did not use the whip at all on the mare. Al Dente needed no whipping and I did not have to remove my whip. But, The Pelican was trying to veer out after I overtook Radical Force at the bend thus forcing me to use the whip to keep him on a straight course. I do not get any sadistic pleasure out of whipping a horse. My association with horses lasts for more than two decades and I am not required to shout from the rooftops to proclaim my love for horses. I feel critics should think twice before opening their mouth.” 

Mr M. K. Jadhav, trainer of The Pelican, concurs with Aslam and says in a matter-of-fact tone: “The Pelican is a big made horse and also a lazy one. He (The Pelican) also has this tendency to loaf when he finds himself alone in the front. I feel it is wrong to judge excessive whipping by a count; it is more important to see whether the whip was used judiciously and did it have the right effect. I do not blame Aslam and would like to mention that were it not for the whipping, The Pelican would not have won the race.”

When asked if Aslam was fined a “piffling” amount, Mr Shujaat Hussain, one of three stipendiary stewards of the RWITC replied in the negative and said, “ It is very important to differentiate between improper and excessive whipping. If it had been improper use of the whip, we would not have hesitated to impose a harsh fine on Aslam. But we found he had no option and had to use the whip on The Pelican. This is not to defend Aslam but we also observed that were it not for the whipping, The Pelican would have veered out and caused interference to the horses racing behind him. It was visible to us that Aslam is using the whip with his left hand and at the same time trying to keep The Pelican on an even keel.”

It is worth mentioning here that jockey Mallesh Narredu was also meted out the same punishment by the RWITC stewards for excessive use of whip on The Pelican when finishing second behind Southern Star last month. This establishes beyond doubt that both the jockeys had used the whip as a gear to exercise control over the horse. Winning or losing didn’t matter to them.