At a late night briefing held at The Bangalore Turf Club, the Stewards announced the re- scheduling of The Kingfisher Bangalore Derby, and confirmed that the same will now by held on Sunday, 17th July 2011. The entire programme for this weekend has been postponed by seven days. The syces union at this centre has been agitating for the last couple of days. They chose the "Big Weekend" to press their demands as they felt that this is the only time in the year when their grievances would be heard. Horses were forced to remain within their stables and not even allowed to come out for a roll. However, they were not denied their fodder and water. In the absence of any sort of exercise for almost 48 hours, it was difficult to imagine these horses running in a Derby. After consulting the trainers, and realizing their reluctance to race their wards, the Club had no option but to alter the programme. It gives them another few days to sit together and sort out this matter. One will have to wait a while to see how events unfurl in the coming week.

The syces union has a couple of immediate demands. The first pertains to the payment of a "Good Conduct Bonus" which had been promised to them a few weeks ago, and the other refers to their requirement of new uniforms. Acting on an appeal made by the syces union, the Labour Commissioner of Bangalore directed the trainers to make good these demands. Since the trainers at Bangalore have taken a unique stand in court, stating that they are not the principal employers of their stable staff, they did not heed this call. Even though the amounts involved are very small, it was felt that by making these payments, they would be confirming an arrangement which would weaken their case. The Karnataka Trainers Association and the leadership of the Syces Union wanted the BTC to get involved in this matter, as they perhaps felt that the Derby was too important an event for them to cancel. The Club refused to succumb to such pressure. After lengthy deliberations, they decided to postpone the Derby.

‘Who is the principal employer of the syces in a race club’ - this has been a question which has been debated repeatedly at various forums within and outside the Bangalore Turf Club. It arose after a discovery that the trainers at this centre had never made a contribution towards their employees Provident Fund. Instead of trying to find out what was happening at the other racing centres across India, the licenced trainers at The BTC tried to absolve themselves of this responsibility. Reacting to a demand asking them to make good these monies, they tried to divert the responsibility. Their argument was that they were not the principal employers of the syces. According to them, it was The Bangalore Turf Club which was the principal employer, as it funded the trainers on behalf of the owners to fulfil their licence obligations. Interestingly, the trainers at other centres like Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata have accepted this responsibility and are making regular contributions towards their employees Provident Fund. This issue at the Bangalore Turf Club is becoming bigger and bigger, and needs to be addressed immediately.