Hello folks,

Mr Rajachandran's article on Mysore race club made a fascinating read.
One wasn't aware, atleast most, that Mysore races were being held way back in 1868 which unfortunately could not be held as The Maharajah had passed away.

The article also states that MyRC was bigger than Btc in those days.
The names of the many cities where race courses existed in those days too are mentioned. Wonder what happened to them!

I wish Mr Rajachandran's shares more of his knowledge of racing from those bygone days.

The above article did rekindle old memories. My first day of racing, as a punter, began during Mysore season of 1979.The Mysore 1000gn was the feature event of the day.

Two runners dominated the betting: Niagara, trained by R.R.Byramji and ridden by V.Shinde and the other one, Nicolette, trained by Aris David and ridden by M.Jagdish. The latter was owned by The Grand Old Man of Indian Racing, late MAM, and the former, perhaps, not very sure, by Ranjit V. Bhat.

The odds on both kept fluctuating between 11/10 to 14/10. I backed a tenner on Niagara at first. Subsequent to that, mu racing guru of those days stated that Nicolette is no mean customer and ought to be considered.

Being a novice, I calculated mentally that if I had a tenner going on Nicolette then too I would be making some money i.e. if either one of them wins then I still make a profit of more than a rupee. 

There was just plain commentary in those days. I was unable to follow the commentary but could gather immediately after the race that Niagara had won. My racing guru looked crestfallen since his money was on the losing horse - Nicolette.

But, then, there was a dramatic development within a couple of minutes. I could suddenly hear the blare of a siren. I was soon informed that it was because an objection was being launched.

That left further confounded as I wasn't aware of that being my first day in the course as a punter. My guru seemed tensed. Once the details of the objections were given he seemed a bit elated. He was confident that the objection would be upheld, The reason being that M.Jagdish rarely ever objected and if he did, it definitely had merit..

You can imagine my plight. First of the objection and just when I had digested that, I am being told of something called 'upheld'. My guru at that point was in no mood to explain being too tensed since his money was riding on the beaten horse.

After a few minutes, the announcement came that the objection had been unheld and the placings revised. My guru let out a big whoop and pumped his fist in the air with glee.

Well, that is how my first day as race punter went.

I would like to thank Mr Rajachandra for his article which awoke past memories.

I do wish and hope we get to see him more often with his articles.

regds,
Cruise