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Back to listsSuspense Continues About Resumption Of Races.
By Raghavan | 27-Apr-2020Many views have appeared in this forum. The latest being from SSPP who has dismissed all possibilities of racing in India in the current calendar year.
SSPP knows what he is talking about. It was he who first posted in this site the possibility of racing being suspended due to virus scare. He was pooh poohed. Even I had felt that there may not be any problem to racing. But, racing stopped; abruptly; from 13th March.
I expected that racing will resume during 3rd week of May at BNG, followed by summer racing at Mysore and then monsoon racing at Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune. But that thinking was during March 2020, when the number of persons attacked due to caronavirus were relatively low.
But, today I am not that much optimistic. However, I will neither endorse nor dismiss what SSPP says (there will be no racing during 2020). At the same time, I will neither endorse nor dismiss what Sagar says also. (racing to resume during Mid-June).
Some enthusiasts are mooting the idea of early resumption of races but to maintain the social distancing, the clubs should permit online betting.
Online betting is not joke. First, all the turfclubs should express its willingness to start racing; the Government should be satisfied about the feasibility of conducting races; then suitable rules should be framed about the online betting.
Regarding online betting, I think many horsetalk members are of the view that betting is possible with bookies at 10% tax. I do not think so. If the online betting is permitted, then the punters has to cough up 28% gst and 5% club commission. (At present some bookies are taking online betting through whatsapp in a limited scale).
As on date, betting is possible from racing centers and offcourse betting centers. If online betting is introduced, then betting will be possible from Kashmir to Sethu. Which means a person staying at a remote place in Assam, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat etc will be able to bet. I do not think the Chief Ministers of those States where there is no racing will okay such move. No doubt the Government will get revenue. But, just understand that if ganja sales is legalised, then also the Government will get revenue.
Only when all current generation Chief Ministers retire and make way for next generation politicians, online betting may be possible.
Now come back to racing. When it will resume? Answer to that can come from Turf Clubs only. But, there is deafening silence from club management on this aspect.
They should put pressure to the Government by narrating sob stories of 1000s of temporary staff, some jockeys & trainers, and the plight of so many owners who have invested any amount between 10k to 500k to 1000k or more while buying horses.
Our prediction can at best be a guess only. We are all eager that racing is started. But, our eagerness will not influence the Government decusion. At Bangalore, there was some controversy and the racing was not permitted for 6 to 8 months. (I think during 2017). That means, the Government is not too much bothered about the revenue it gets or does not get from racing.
I agree that temporary staff, good number of jockeys, owners are in difficult times. So, I can understand if they made a strong demand for racing to resume. If bookies feel that they are deprived of a huge profit, there is some justification for their demand for resumption of races. But, what I can not understand is how punters are so eager to start of races. I am amused.
It is a losing proposition. I have written may be a 100 times that I will be more than happy if I achieve the strike rate of 15% on my forecast bets. Of course, Chanakya has mastered a system where he can score 100% strike rate on all pools. (exacta/trinella/forecast/treble/jackpot).
So, horse talk members; PLEASE TAKE IT EASY. The present lock down is till May 3rd. We do not know whether lock down will be relaxed on May 4th or we are heading towards lockdown 3.0, lockdown 4.0 etc All race punters are left with decent amount of cash in their pocket, courtesy no races and no liquor.
You should worry about racing if and when the turf clubs in consultation with Government decide on that issue. Till then watch races at Hong Kong, USA etc in your computer!