Last week the chief veterinary officer R Senthil Kumar was in the line of fire. The decision of the vet to race the on-money favourite Lazarus after he played up at the starting gates and was in no mood to get into his designated box cost the punters dear. Now the handicapper R Karthik has blotted his book. The handicapper sullied the image of the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) dropping 44 points, while rating  Dun It Again from the stables of Chennai-based trainer M P Vishesh at 56 after the Madras Race Club had rated it 100. The big goof up is the talking point in the racing circles and most pros and owners made no secret of their opinion that the inexperienced handicapper lacks the capability to satisfactorily perform the task on hand. Add to it, it is learnt that the man has a couple of blue-eyed boys, who he loves to dole out favours and the Vishesh issue is a serious case in point. Karthik, a couple of senior trainers pointed out wanted Vishesh to pick up a couple of races at this centre which will help the youngster from Chennai gain a licence to train at this centre. "It simply was no oversight or a mistake which happened. It was intentionally done to help the Chennai boy," said a trainer under condition of anonymity. The trainer pointed out that the big drop in the rating of Dun It Again defied logic and hopefully Karthik will not do this again. 

A club member and owner, K Kamesh after understanding that the handicapper lacked the credibility and the ability to successfully deliver the goods in the capacity shot of fa letter to the management of the club pointing out the blunders the handicapper had done this season which embarrassed the mandarins of the club. Kamesh and many knowledgeable owners and trainers simply wanted to know how the Pesi Shroff-trained Jamari, who is one of the frontline contenders for the first classic of the summer season, the Fillies Championship Stakes, was penalised only six points after the talented filly won the DT Racing & Breeders LLP Million carrying an overweight of 2.5 kilos, while the Arjun Manglorkar schooled Czar who finished runner-up was penalised seven points. Well this was another mess-up and the pros and railbirds, who are the chief patrons of the game are slowly losing the confidence in the man and the sport which is still considered a mug's game. 

It maybe recalled that BTC roped in Karthik, an understudy to Jagannath at Mysore Race Club (MRC) despite the fact that the handicapper lacked the experience and expertise to satisfactorily perform at this big centre. And now that the chosen one is making one mistake after another, the committee is left with no place to hide. Helping out any trainer or owner while you are performing the functions of a handicapper is just not done. it simply is a no no. But allegations in writing have reached the board room. Will any action be initiated? Well your guess is as good as mine.