Two shocking incidents came to light in two horse racing centres recently.
The incidents establish one thing beyond any shadow of doubt — officials have little or no concern for people who patronise this gaming activity.
With off-course being conducted at all centres, racing enthusiasts everywhere are affected by the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities.
Incident 1: Trainer Vikash Jaiswal, licensed by the Royal Calcutta Turf Club, entered two horses under his care on August 18, 2012, in what was later established as a case of mistaken identity.
The names of the two horses, Harness Free and Quentin Derward, were interchanged before the race.
But after that was pointed out, the Stewards ordered that they be withdrawn.
After due enquiry, the authorities were satisfied that the inter-change of the two horses appeared to be a genuine case of mistaken identity and that there was no evidence of conspiracy to gain financially or otherwise.
Nevertheless, they decided to suspend trainer Vikash Jaiswal from Oct 2 to Oct 13 for negligence in the performance of his duties as a licensed professional under Rule 114(b)(i) in that he failed to identify correctly the horses under his charge and presented the wrong animal to participate in the race.
Fortunately, people who were present for the races were not taken for a ride.
In any case, this is not the first time this has happened and perhaps it will not be the last.
Horses have been painted to hide their real identity.
Instances of horses being given wrong track numbers to deny knowledge of its true fitness levels to the racing public are abound.
Efforts are rarely been made to ensure that this does not happen.
Incident 2: On Sept 14, two horses at the Mysore Race Club created confusion because of the colours worn by the jockeys.
The horse, Aetius was officially drawn 1 and sported colours of light blue and red checks.
But it appeared as though it came off from draw No 10 meant for Penalty Kick.
Both horses were slow and were never in contention.
In the racing incidents published by the Mysore Race Club, it was mentioned that Penalty Kick (M D Paswan) was slow into the strides and lost many lengths at the start.
In view of its behaviour, Trainer T Natraj was informed that he must not accept the horse again until its behaviour improved to the satisfaction of the Stipendiary Stewards in one mock race on a race day on the race track.
Ditto for Aetius (A R Pradeep) too in the racing incidents.
While viewing the television replays, Raman, the Chief Stipendary Steward, showed a horse which could hardly be said to have sported the colours mentioned against its name.
“The draw numbers were not wrong but maybe the colours were not clearly visible,” he said.
That only means that those who conduct racing cannot even ensure that jockeys riding horses sport the right colours of their owners.
At objections lodged by jockeys, the authorities ask questions that almost scares jockeys and immediately gives away the possible outcome.
In any case, conduct of racing at most centres in India leaves a lot to be desired.
Officials only offer explanations after the event but they hardly do anything to prevent confusion.
In fact, they thrive in benefitting from the confusion.
