BENGALURU: Y Jagannath was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Bangalore Turf Club here. This follows the no-confidence motion that was moved against N Harindra Shetty by the managing committee and his eventual ouster as Chairman on Sunday.
It is reliably learnt that the Karnataka government representatives asked the managing committee to put off the meeting by two weeks. However, the committee decided to go ahead with it as they felt that too much damage had been done to BTC’s reputation.
Apparently, they were unhappy that Shetty sought the state government’s help in investigating horse doping complaints without taking them into confidence.
Doping allegations were levelled against Karnataka Race Horse Owners’ Association Million Cup winner Queen Latifa. A police complaint was filed by horse owner H S Chandre Gowda recently.
Jagannath said, “The inquiry into the doping incident is on. We are waiting for the second lab report to come. Getting the reports will take time. It is routine work and we will follow the procedure. The substance that was traced in the horse’s sample is negligible and is not a big thing.”
On the development of the sport, he said, “Our aim will be to improve infrastructure and functioning at the BTC. We want to market racing better and take it to the international level. Bengaluru should be at the international level,” he added. Shetty did not want to comment on the happenings. The summer season is all set to begin on May 13.