After meeting B. Puttanna, Indiarace caught up with Dr Kasi Vishwanathan, Honorary Treasurer of the Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association. Vishwanathan has been associated with racing at Bangalore for a long time and is extremely passionate about the sport. He put forward the owners’ viewpoint on the forthcoming winter season at the Bangalore Turf Club.

On Winter Season 2007-08
The season is spread over 34 race days and is bound to attract increased participation, especially due to the significant increase in stake money as compared to that of the previous Winter Season 2006-07.

On facilities for Owners
We have requested the management of BTC to offer better catering facilities in the owners’ stand and better seating facilities in and around the catering area and the management has agreed to implement the same. Further, on a specific request from our association, the management has agreed to provide metallic badges to the owners to be worn on their attire. This would bring the necessary recognition and pride of being a owner. The management has also agreed to contribute 2% of the total stake money for the financial year 2007-2008 to an "Owners Contingency Fund"

On Stables
The most important requirement is construction of about 150 stables within the premises of BTC and about 200-300 stables to house the 2-year olds, as and when they start arriving from the month of February 2008 onwards. I have been given to understand that the initial paper work for the construction of additional stables in Bangalore has been more or less finalised and the stables are expected to be ready before the commencement of the summer season. However, the management is yet to find the solution for housing the 2-year olds and it appears that they will continue to be housed at Mysore from February to July 2008 also. This is one area where permanent solution has to be found in the shortest possible time. Three should also be stable area outside the Banaglore race course.
Another area is the pollution control during construction. There would be an element of pollution when construction takes place, but with modern techniques the effect of pollution can be minimised. However, we have no option in this regard as the shrinking space is a greater concern than pollution.

On Races Going Void
The number of races which have gone void in previous Winter seasons has drastically reduced due to the sustained efforts of our Association and the efforts put in by the Karnataka Trainer’s Association. This problem can only be minimised and not eliminated as the responsibility lies totally in the hands of trainers. We hope that they will be proactive by analysing the number of entries from the first entry stage itself. It is also reliably learnt that there is a reduction in the total number of horses likely to participate in the forthcoming winter season when compared to the previous year and this may compound this problem.

Other Important Issues
The owners are concerned about the lack of consistency in dispensing punishments to the professionals and we feel that the Judicial process of conducting enquires should undergo a change especially due to the intricacies attached to each case.

While the errant professionals should not be spared, every opportunity should be given to them to defend themselves before holding them guilty. The due process of law should be followed in all enquiries. We are happy to learn that the management has agreed to allow a spokesman to represent the professionals from the stage of initial enquiry itself which was hitherto being allowed only at the appeal stage.

The management should also look into ways and means of attracting more sponsorship so that it would augment the revenues of the Club and also popularise and glamorise the sport. They could take a cue from the RWITC in this regard as we observe that  most of the fancied horses from this centre prefer to race at Mumbai during the Winter Season.

BTC should also institute accident insurance to cover horses running in the races.
At the end of the two meetings with B Puttanna and Dr Kasi Vishwanathan, one can sense a feeling of wellbeing all around. Everybody seems to be keenly looking forward to a long and competitive season.