Following the significant hike in stake-money for the summer season offered by Bangalore Turf Club, the Mysore Race Club too has taken the cue and has increased the stake money by about 15 per cent. For a smaller club like Mysore, the quantum of hike given by the club puts bigger clubs like Royal Western India Turf Club under pressure. The stakes at RWITC is the poorest among premier clubs in the country, the glamour and glitz perhaps making authorities to gloss over the fact that they cannot compete in this area.

The reason why stake money is good in southern centres is because of the well-established tote betting structure which helps the club to earn more money which is put back into the game. Mysore though conservative in many of the things they do, is progressive in regularly hiking the stake money. In fact, Mysore Race Club can take the credit for saving the other clubs in the country from financial strain about a decade ago by adding about 25 days to the Indian racing calendar.

The Bangalore Turf Club has decided not to enforce the norms for jockeys which mandated that every jockey should have had a minimum of 20 rides with three placed efforts following objections by the Jockeys Association of India. The JAI had threatened to go on strike by not renewing their licenses if the norm was enforced as many of the jockeys would have lost their license to ride. The racing scenario is such that enforcement of performance oriented norm for renewing license is difficult to implement because of the surfeit of licenses they have issued in the last couple of years without much though.

In the meanwhile, on the weather front, there has been cause for concern though. It has been raining pretty hard for the last few days. Bangalore missed its share of rains during the month of April causing anxious moments to the authorities which also necessitated the postponement of the season by a week due to inadequate preparation of the track along with other contingencies. The track is in brilliant condition. Preparation of horses is in full swing.

The horses are thriving on the cool weather that has replaced the scorching heat of last month. A look at the horses during morning workouts gives an indication of the fact that the horses have put on condition and are better off for the change in the weather. The only worry is that if the rains through this week, then this may pose a problem or two.

The horses from Mumbai may not be seen in action in the first week of the season as the penicillin shots that they had to give their horses before coming ensures that they need to give a clear 21 day gap before they race for fear of coming positive for any prohibited substance.

The start of the Pune season has been pushed back to the last week of July. The Hyderabad monsoon season too starts sometime in July. Bangalore will thus be the focus of attention over the next two and half months. The well planned prospectus which ensures that there is a graded race every week makes for a highly competitive and enjoyable season.