The truncated Mysore Regular Racing Season will not take off as scheduled from Thursday, August 24. There was uncertainty about the prompt start as the Karnataka Race Horse Owners’ Association was at loggerheads with the Mysore Race Club for publishing the prospectus without a meeting with them. The issue was resolved only on Sunday and as a result, the
entries and the publication of handicaps were postponed by a few days. After the KROA and MRC came to an amicable settlement, came the syces problem. With the syces refusing to bring out the horses for work and for the roll in support of their demands, the first week’s races suffered the inevitable fate. With no end in sight, the authorities had no other go but to cancel the races scheduled for the first week.
The regular Mysore Racing Season runs for 20 days but this year, due to the first week’s cancellation of Bangalore Summer Season, the season had to be extended by one week. Mysore Race Club could accommodate only 18 races days as a result as the season has to complete before November. Now there is further loss for all involved with racing with the season’s
programme being truncated further.
The Karnataka Trainers Association entered into an agreement with the Syces Union over the wage increase sometime back and accordingly paid the increased component of the salary last month. There was a new clause incorporated in the agreement that the syces were required to work on one or more horse in the eight-hour duty period. The Syces Union that
originally agreed in principle to fulfill their part of the commitment went back and refused to work more than one horse. In the meanwhile, the Karnataka Trainers Association had commenced paying the increased salary
ostensibly to prevent the Bangalore Summer Season running smoothly despite the agreement having not been signed by the two parties concerned.
The Syces refused to take the reduced salary and struck work demanding that the increased salary had to be paid without any additional burden on their work. With either side not relenting and the matter likely to reach the courts, a solution is unlikely to be thrashed out in a hurry. With horses not having worked for two days barring that belonging to the turf baron where the increased salary has been given, the racing schedule of horses is going to go haywire and a long
drawn battle of attrition seems to be on cards.
