In an open letter to The Turf Authorities Of India the owners of Jacqueline have made an extremely valid point, that Race Clubs should desist from generating a few extra bucks of revenue at the cost of being inconsiderate to the horses participating in an event. Horses are known to spend nervous energy and get worked up when disturbed by sound, thus affecting their ultimate performance in a race. A horse's sense of vision may be limited to about fifty metres, but its sense of sound is very sharp. A loud disturbing noise would make a thoroughbred run, and when he is forcibly restrained from doing so by the jockey and the handlers at the starting gates, it starts to fret, play up and raise an un-necessary sweat. This obviously handicaps the thoroughbred from giving its hundred percent in a race. This is exactly what happened at the start of The Kingfisher Derby on Sunday. The Bangalore Turf Club has a standard procedure wherein seventeen minutes prior to the start of every race, a bell rings in the paddock. This is an indication for the jockeys to start mounting their horses. After a mandatory parade in front of the grandstand, the horses leave for the starting gates. The same procedure was followed in the Derby. Since the starting gates for the big race were placed right in front of the grandstand, the horses arrived there within a couple of minutes. It was a long and testing fifteen minutes that these inexperienced thoroughbreds spent in front of a noisy crowd. Whistles and catcalls were the order of the day, and with an all time record crowd present, it was almost chaotic by the time the horses began to enter the stalls. Some of the runners had sweated, others had played up and most of them were nervous. The authorities had been inconsiderate towards these inexperienced youngsters by exposing them to such testing conditions. It may not be fair to say that some runners got overawed by this scenario, and the others handled it maturely. The fact remains that the setting wasn't ideal for anyone. The BTC and all other Race Clubs need to address this problem and find a practical solution as soon as possible. There is a school of thought which propagates that punters start their betting only after the horses have left the paddock. While catering to this lobby, the authorities have been ensuring that the horses reach the gates much before the start of a race. It isn't unusual to see the runners sweating it out under a blazing sun for long periods of time. The waiting period at the gates in the last race on Derby Day was some sort of a record. Table Mountain and his opponents waited twenty five minutes before being loaded. A copy of the open letter was sent to us. For the benefit of our readers, the same is being reproduced hereunder. Dear Sir, RE; RUNNING OF THE BANGALORE SUMMER DERBY ==================================================================================================== As you are aware the Bangalore Summer Derby was run last Sunday where our filly Jacqueline was placed 2nd, which sportingly, of course we have blamed on Bad Luck. However, after some introspection and without taking away anything from the gutsy performance of the winner we have come to the conclusion that it was not bad luck, but the mindless 15 minutes wait at the starting gates, that most likely caused her to lose by 1/100th of a second. During the wait our jockey informed us that the filly who was only running for the 4th time in her life had to suffer the ordeal of shouts and whistles from the grandstand as the starting stalls are placed exactly opposite to them. Jacqueline was reportedly highly worked up and had to be wiped down thrice due to her being excited. We are sure also that the favourite of the race Gypsy Magic who we all know is a temperamental filly, must have been adversely affected as can be seen from her poor performance as she was beaten by "Captivating" who she had beaten at the Fillies Trial Stakes. This clearly goes to show that these unwarranted delays must have had an effect on their performance. We think it is about time that Turf Authorities realise that there is a responsibility to create a level playing field so that horses participating in such prestigious events (or for that matter any race) should not be kept waiting just so that clubs can earn few extra rupees on betting that takes place. We are requesting Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla who has championed the cause of fair racing in India to intervene in this matter and ensure that this practice is discontinued with immediate effect. PARTNERS OF JACQUELINE.