When it rains during the Bangalore Summer, as is the feature year after year, jockeys use it as an excuse to take the law into their own hands. Every failure on their part is explained away by blaming the track for being slippery and dangerous and they even have the audacity to tell the Stewards that it is easy for them (the Stewards) to say that nothing will happen. Let the authorities ride and show them is their demand! 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?