Dear All, I was born in 1985, and my tryst with racing started on exactly 9th March, 2012 it was a Friday.

One of my college mate introduced me to BTC, and alas , I clung to it but it was "first and last " day for him...

so far my "tenure" (!) at racing is about 128 months precisely, deducting for covid, btc vs government tussle, note ban etc.. 

As for the "big hole in the pocket " is considered, just below 15 L..

YES I REMEMBER ,IN THE YEAR 1993 I ENTERED THE PUNE RACE COURSE .AND FOUND THIS SPORTS VERY FASCINATING AND HORSE RACING BECAME MY PASSION ,AND TILL DATE I ATTENDING ALMOST ALL RACE DAYS.LIKE ME EVERY PUNTR IS   HAVING HIS OWN EMOTIONAL MEMORIES. 

THAT WAS THE TIME WHEN RACE CARD WAS SO BIG ALMOST 10,12 RACES ,MOST OF THE TIME RACE WAS STARTED 12 NOON. SEVERAL TIME I WENT WITH HT SUPER TIPSTER "ABHAY PUNE" AS HE IS MY FRIEND.

IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO EARN MONEY IN RACING THE  JOY  IS TEMPORARY  ,1ST WIN SOME AMT  FROM RACING  AND THEN INVEST THAT MONEY IN RACING ONLY.AND DONT INVEST HEAVEY IN RACING ,ONCE UR LOSS IS OUT OF RANGE ,THEN IT IS VERY VERY DIFFICULT TO RECOVER.

REGARDS 

Hi Guy's

I first entered the race course in Chennai in the early 80's as a child i went with my father who was a regular race goer,

At that time in Chennai (known as Madras there used to be a lot of foriegn jockeys come to Chennai like Alan Mercer,John Lowe were my favourite jockeys we also had Martin Fry and Christy Roche,C H Richardson ride fo D.M.Hill,Dhariwal and J. Tyrell then we had the Great Willie Carson ride for Dr M.A.M. thats in Chennai,then in the other centers like Bangalore,Mumbai,and Calcutta we had the Great Lester Piggot,Sandy Barclay,A.Baxter,Mike Kinane Kiron Fallon i can go on to name many more but need to spare a thought for my indian greats,My favourite Vasanth Shinde,Aslam Khader,M.Jagdish,Robin Connor,Karan Singh,Nelson Ruben and many more trust me friends those were the golden years of racing.

A finish like Sandy Barclay riding Track Lightning from last to first in a 4 way finish in the Indian Derby in 1980 and then Lester Piggot riding Delage in the Indian Turf Invitation in Chennai.

I would like other seniors to elobrate of the above jockeys and racing

hi all 

first iam not Indian , i was studying in Pune from 1991  to 1996

i entered the race course in 1992 as student i was not playing big u know

after i left india i started goig to india very often because i love india and for business of the companies i worked for in Saudi.

so when ever i went to india i used to go for races and start betting this time little heavy

I have an advice for all never bett on all races even if u r lucky that day , for me i used to play morning and set and watch and bett little amount during races , i made money during my visits to India may be because i have some connects there helped me .

Good luck to u all 

Horse racing what a sport it is ? For me it's  the most exciting sport where age of horses or jockeys does not matter for participation and so as the love and passion of punters or horse lovers could not be measured by any means. Every race is different and full of excitement the thrill to watch a powerful horse and the jockey to cross the finishing line is just something. I truly have never spent much time watching any other sport apart from horse racing.

I started watching horses at a very early age as the racecourse was not far away from my school so we could see few horses passing nearby. I believe Two of the current famous jockey could are from the same school  / college.

I started going to the racecourse only in 2002 / 2003 I believe jockey bajrang sing was famous at that time basically I used to bunk college and follow tips from the Indian express and those tips from Indian express were pretty good for my very small investments even though it wasn't big win money but still I used to visit racecourse for exciting entertainment.

I started working at an early age while I was still completing my education and used to spend a small amount of salary on horseracing only then I started reading about horses / jockey/ trainers etc 

I usually do not like to play on favourites instead I like to take chance on the horses who have good chances to fit in frame at decent odds I used the name one two ka 4 as one two ka 4 is a bet where the chances of making money is slightly better in my opinion. If one hasn't tried one twok ka 4 bet then give it a try.

I do enjoy reading about how punters try their very best methods to finding a winner and try to implement or mix and match some of others and some of my own methods to see if I can have better success rate and as I keep on trying different methods I never get tired or bored out completely, horse racing is such a sport always more to learn and practice and always more to look forward to not necessarily one should play / bet every day but sometimes just to pick out winners and write on a piece or on this forum and see if the choosen horses for a particular bet makes the frame is still as exciting as actually placing bet.

I have been to few racecourse in India and abroad and this horse racing sport is by far my favourite sport. 

From the past few years many of us may think horse racing in India may not survive for a long time but at the same time the footfalls in any Indian racecourse is increasing and many are playing as hobby or to recover loss or hoping one will hit a big jackpot and not come back or to pay off borrowed money or as we speak someone had just had their first day in the racecourse and one knows what happenens.

Began in 1996. was fortunate to watch competitive rides of AK, Pesi, Mallesh, Appu, Ruzaan and many top foriegn riders.Such proud and amazing owners like MAM, Vijay Mallya, Khaitan, Poonawallas....handicapping worked in some races in those days. Many foreign jockeys graced big events unlike now when only 1 or 2 are invited. 

For me all time great horses will always be Mystical and Smart Cheiftain.

When will the horse racing session start in Banglore?

Thanks all for sharing your experiences.

Precisely_that Whatever you said is right but however youth is involved in other forms of gambling and Loosing money in those things but it is better to invest here so that atleast government will get taxes as this is the only legal sport in the country and I wish Indian racing should be in the level of international racing.

I went to Madras Race Course first time in the year 1962 when Jockey Jagdish, Shankar, Dix and Dixon were riding. I also happen to witness Gymkhana Races.

Win Master, Nalini were some of the horses which I could still remember.

Hi friends,

I enetered Mysore race course in 1967 just to see His Highness Jayachamarajendra wodayar in Maharajas cup.already spent 58 years in racing.those were the days when Sam Hill was dominating as south india trainer.Then came his son D.M.Hill.M.A.M Sir just was in starting point of racing.Racing was sinciere.Trainers like Uttam singh, Aziz md.were sincerlly giving the chance of there horses when asked.The best jockey I have seen was Wally Swiinburn who use to visit India occasionally.Nest to him was Mike Kinane whom i rate next.Then came walter Swinburn son of wally.I use to bet 10/= with bookies then it was 40/=.Days has gone.everybody is running behind money.now a days its not possible to make money.even if you make its onlt temporary.just because of hobby still in racing.As bookies have syndicate, owners have syndicate but not punters.tried to form but it was waste of effort.but still enjoy my racing visita.wish you the very best.

@ veteran punters.

Thank you sir Long time was not able to recollect her name,see this forum help us a lot in many ways. 

The name of the lady rider is Ayesha Captain, who later married late trainer Vinayak.

If iam not wrong...her name was Rupa singh

Have been to race course in Mumbai from 1978 onwards use to play minimum amount of Eighty rupees with book makers slowly increased my betting amount to five hundred not hooked to any gambling nice topic for people like us. One more thing I forgot the name of the FEMALE JOCKEY at that time she rode her minimum winners got her whip and she did not ride again. Pls share her name .thanks for this lovely old days memories.

Sir

In 1990 1st January I entered RCTC with my friends and dadas also... two of them owner of the horses and they guided me what is horse racing.... generally I used to go ocationaly.... they taught me what is the reason a horse can't win that particular day and one thing I would like to share the horse racing is not for common people.... now a days I go ocationaly when I get some news from my source that particular horse is trying...... generally this is a loosing game for common people.All the best.

hi all,. I first entered the Mumbai course sometime in mid '86. My friend (same building in Worli) his brother and father would regularly go there . One day decided to go with them and  got hooked. First only Mumbai races then Pune then banglore and later all centres except Ooty. Was a regular till around 1993 . Later got married and family way and responsibilities and working like every normal person. Got back again sometime in 2015 but not getting engrossed like before. This sport drains you in every way. Now enjoying without pinching the pocket. 

Sometime in 1988 this friend's father became one of the partners with a ring bookie. So we all used to go to the bookies office in fort after races and saw how settlements were done. But one important thing we used to ask regarding the opening of night odds ,how it is worked out, he never told us. Till date I am yet not sure of how the opening of odds in the night starts out. Yes the bookies have their own people who study the card and work out the probability of horses winning,but who starts the odds?? I did understand that their were camps of owners n trainers who would wager in the night after the odds were flashed . But the actual betting would be next morning only. The bookies are actually unaware of the tactics of owners n trainers. They too are in the dark. Suddenly a 6 to 1 will be backed heavily to become even money by race time. 

We were indeed fortunate to see the likes of Aslam Kader riding and even Lester Pigot. Absolutely world class and magic. Good days. But now races is losing its shine.

When I started way back in 2005 I use to follow bol tips n use to play like in first race first tip second race second like this n trust me that time I use to earn better but since I started learning more n more I became more 

Thanks for starting this nice thread. I first went to Bangalore race course in 1996 with my room mate. I played my first bet on Jai Jaidev on my room mate's recommendation which was ridden to victory by Vasant Shinde and made some money. The adrenaline rush of seeing the horses run got me hooked into this game. I became a regular goer and used to go with Rs 1000 during those days. Initially I used to play in the bookies ring and later also started playing at the tote primarily because of the SHP. Some days it used to be good and some days not so well. I used to be very content and happy if I returned back with anything positive after covering my entry cost, the mutton biriyani cost inside the race course and cold drink cost which used to be approx. Rs 60-70. It took some time for me to understand the basic nitty gritty of the races.

During that time there were limited owners like MAM Ramaswamy, Vijay Mallya, Dhunjibhoy, Khaitan, Poonawala, etc. and it was a prestigious fight amoung them. That time very few trainers owned their own horses. We had many good jockeys both Indian and International and also had female jockeys riding like Vasant Shinde, Pesi, Ruzaan, MA Gallaghar, Mallesh, Satish, Srinath, Warren, Marshall, Hema Bindu Silva Storai n all. Saw the great Elusive Pimpernal run and the return of Aslam Kader after a year long suspension. Fortunately the cities that I moved too also had racing centres like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. After Covid I have hardly visited racing centre and play online but definitely miss the excitment and the adrenaline rush.

Yes, I feel there has been a decline in this sport as in 90s Horse racing was the only legal gambling sports and we didn't have online gambling then. To some extent the Govt and the racing centres are also to blame with the high TDS coming into effect and racing centres are not doing much to promote this beautiful sport like hosting events, ads, free online broadcasts, showing premiere events on TV etc.

I am sure most of the punters here in HT are from 80s and 90s. Looking forward to hear from them as well..........

That is really good if 90's generation is not much interested in horse racing. Its better for youth of our country to stay away from it. There is nothing great here. Many promote this as game of knowledge, skill, study and excitement. Fact is its hard core gambling. And very few people are meant to make money.

At times I am surprised by the fact that Punters are more worried about the future of this game. And professionals Don't even care about being fair. Forget thinking of the punters.  

Horse racing in India is dying sport. When you look other countries like Australia, UK and US you will know what bis horse racing about. 

Well I am too a 1990s kid raised with black and white tv sets and ofcourse Mario

I got into Horse Racing while watching Squid Game the Net fleix series. There in first episode the main character. Goes to horse racing to earn big buck as he had no other option.

One Day I entered race course that was a Calcutta derby Feb 2022. I had no clue what was going on couldn't even understand the odds. Then  asked few people they guided me.

Horse racing is a place where u can make quick money as compared to cricket betting.

Things I have learned in horse racing sofar

1. Never bet on money fav especially in Bombay centre

2. Bet on Nareedus on big Race

I was born in 90s, accidentally got into racing by a gambler who was born in 80s, learnt a lot and still learning about racing from seniors born in 70s and 60s.

CAN SOMEONE KINDLY SUGGEST ME SOME OF THE SAFEST ONLINE BETTING PORTALS OF INDIAN HORSE RACING???

I entered in 2014 and I use to go with my friend who was regular n he use to make me seat in restaurant inside our club.

Amazing part for me was when I use to see people shouting by seeing the race I use to wonder race is happening in other city n why they shouting here but one day when I played one horse in Mumbai Race because horse color was white n it have me 5k  plus, as new comer I was over joyed and I told my friend n he said sai don't play because it's tough to get away from this field. 

After ten years now I realised why people use to shout because their money is coming back n honestly after ten long years now for last two years I started playing in systematic manner n now if not fill but still to certain extent am satisfied. 

I learnt in this ten years is set target take limited money say 5-6 k n try to earn 1.5 to 2 k n thanks God.  The more you run behind horses more are your chances for going out soon.  

I still prefer to play more in place but yes higher odds horses I go each way because it completes my quota for a week.  

Very good topic you took n i hope many more experienced will be shared.  Thank you sir