First  things first.  Let’s congratulate  Team Dhunjibhoy  for  their victory  in the elections.  Amidst high tension and high drama  the winning team stuck to the task  and the moment  the RWITC chairman Vivek Jain announced Ram Shroff’s name ahead of Geoffrey Nagpal,  it was time for song and dance and party all night long for the winning group.

We all know that the winds of change have touched the premier club and  the new committee has taken charge, the onus will be on the new team to  deliver what was promised  to the members and punters  in the many emotional and at times bitter election campaigns. 

In the big fight which went down to the wire, it was good to see the wheels of fortune favour the two most popular and clean owners  Zavaray Poonawalla and Vijay Shirke  who initially were reluctant to throw their hats in the ring but decided to put their hand up in the interest  of the premier club. And despite being in opposite camps, the members understanding their capability and capacity to put the club back on even keel  chose to support the two, confident that the two will provide the new chairman Khusroo Dhunjibhoy the cushion he needs  to first gain the lease agreement before sorting out the finance issues.

Well to the credit of Khusroo, it must be mentioned  that he has the required  experience and expertise to put the club back on road to glory after the premier centre was caught in a whirlpool.  And to do that the new team needs time and space. But effort must be paid to put the system on fast track and  issues and complaints should be pushed in the priority  folder.

Moments before the results were announced by Vivek Jain who again topped the poll list, establishing that he still enjoys the support of a majority of the members, the members of the Western India Trainers’ Association (WITA) shot a letter to the secretary seeking a couple of changes and amendments in the medication rules.

The trainers while supporting the zero tolerance policy of the clubs against doping of horses pointed out that the reporting levels must be set at realistic levels to prevent misuse/abuse of substances which have a material visible or measurable effect on the performance of the animal.

Pointing out that the Threshold levels which take into account natural contamination and exclude findings and punishments based thereon should be applied.  And that the Threshold levels for therapeutically administered substances should not attract the same levels of punishments  (with regard to drugs administered by vets entered in the log book).

The trainers also recommended that the clubs need to obtain the safety period for all therapeutic substances from top laboratories in their list.

Regular testing of all feed and allied substances at approved testing labs and an amendment in the rule of racing to distinguish deliberate malpractices  as against the positives  that come up from inadvertent or natural contamination.

In addition WITA disclosed that  new and fair guidelines should be set up and that vicarious liability should go out of the window.  And that all juveniles and horses arriving at RWITC  be it from stud farms or other centres must be checked for dope (Anabolic steroids and harmones)  and punishments for steroids coming positive must be given only on evidence of wrong doing or tacit approval by the  professional.

Collection of urine samples, the trainers contended that samples should be obtained  before a horse leaves from  one trainer and joins the string of the other and that the sample needs to be preserved in frozen state until the horse who has shifted is tested and found clear by his new trainer.

The trainers made it clear that it was increasingly difficult to operate in the draconian existing  rules and that medication rules need a fresh look in.

All said and done it is not going to be nice, quick and easy. But going by the happening, dope cases regularly coming under the scrutiny at all centres, it is time the conductors of the game urgently address the issue in their effort to provide a healthy atmosphere and more importantly a clean image to the sport which is still struggling to shed the mug’s game tag.