Indian racing is going through a slump. There has been general apathy and the time has come for the
administrators of the sport and the professionals to make concerted efforts to give a new direction to the
sport. Even at the expense of displeasing big owners, the turf clubs should give a thrust to broad basing
ownership of horses by extending subsidies given to horse owners who own a small string, for the overall
good of the sport. Too much concentration of horses in fewer people will spell the death knell of the sport
in the long run. The classic case is that of racing at Kolkata, which appears to have taken an irreversible
turn for the worse.
The Bangalore Turf Club has done well to offer five per cent incentive to those who have interest in less
than five horses. There is need to extend subsidies in order to give small owners a chance to survive in the
sport. While the onus is on the club to protect the interest of this dwindling species, the professionals
too share a responsibility by rising to the occasion. Sadly, a number of races went void during the last
winter season and more than Rs 30 lakh stakes on offer went unclaimed. While the professional bodies need to
sit together to work out ways and means to lessen the burden on the owners and ensure that they get a fair
deal, the turf club, even at the cost of a reduced participation of the big owners, should go ahead and
strive to ensure that ownership of horses does not become the monopoly of a few. Restriction on monopoly
is an age-old practice that has been widely accepted.
There are a few people in the country who own horses disproportionate to the income that they may generate
from racing. They do not hope to even break even. For them the economics of the sport does not bother. By
paying astronomical sums of money to what are supposed to be fashionably bred horses, they have indirectly
caused the extinction of small owners by making buying of horses beyond their reach besides the maintaining
of horses, the cost of which is shooting up day by day. Since these horse owners are not bothered by the
returns and costs do not pinch them, the turf clubs have to treat them differently. They do not need any
protection like the small owners with modest means.
The fact that five per cent incentive on stakes for those owning less than five horses had a positive
effect in Bangalore can be seen by the fact that at once the ownership was considerably broad based, with
shares being bought readily by newer owners and useless horses being discarded to prune the size of
their string. Owning horses can become affordable only if there is a sea change in the way things are administered. Two of
what were once major racing centres have barely managed to survive because the policies of the turf
clubs at present, have kept the small owners out of business. If Bangalore were to be the trendsetter that
it is, there has to be a change of heart. The authorities should not be afraid to make changes.
Their decisions in favour of small owners may raise the hackles of the powerful but then in the long run,
they too will understand and the sport will surely survive better.
That is because if the big owners realize that the odds are against them, they are sure to cut the size
of their string and prices of horses may come to a more realistic level. It will lead to broad basing of
ownership and there is bound to be a chain effect for the overall betterment of the sport.