It's sorted out. The bookmakers stall fees hike issue has been amicably settled. The management committee of the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) tactfully addressed the thorny issue and gained their pound of flesh, a good eight percent hike. To the credit of bookmakers, it must be mentioned that they too played their cards well and closed the deal at half  the proposed cost hike (15 percent) initiated by the club. Well at the end it was a win-win situation after the high-drama and mercifully from the racing buffs point of view, the decks have been cleared for the summer season, scheduled to start on Saturday, May 17.

The Bookmakers Association made it clear that all the 27 bookies, who operated in the winter season will continue to operate in the summer. That effectively means that a total of 31 bookmakers will start the betting business taking into account that the club has chosen to allot stalls to all the four new applicants subject to the fresh applicants fulfilling the conditions and furnishing all the required documents and the listed deposit amount in the days ahead. It is learnt that the club has received four applications for the first enclosure  and two for the second enclosure. BTC in fact had advertised for six stalls in the second enclosure and now that only two applications have been submitted to the club, the decision makers may shun the idea. This apart the managing committee also asked the bookies to do `dhanda' on two centres, when the races at two centres clash, but the bookies flatly refused pointing out that the time gap is too small and a delay at one centre will result in overlapping, leading to confusion and chaos in the bookmakers ring.

The bookies at this centre revealed that in addition to the eight percent hike they have agreed to sponsor one big event in summer. "We sponsored the Oaks in winter and we will again sponsor a major event this summer. We understand that we too need  to chip in to promote the sport and we will do it in the interest of the sport," said a leading bookmaker pointing out that the bookmakers at this centre are paying much higher stall fees when compared with the other premier centres including Mumbai.

Another senior and seasoned bookmaker disclosed that many illegal bookmakers operating from their homes and their many hide-outs and the dime a dozen betting apps are hurting the business. "The betting volumes are only getting smaller and smaller by the day and add to it the attendance is falling  and the interest in the game is fast dwindling and in this scenario who can afford to pay hefty hikes," questioned the bookie.

Well all said and done, the managing committee spearheaded by the chairman Manjunath Ramesh did well to bring home gains before the start of what promises to be a summer to remember considering the fact that racing this summer will be very competitive with more than 200 horses, including many well performed three-year-olds down here from Mumbai, Hyderabad and other centres, gearing up to make a mark in the weeks ahead.