Bangalore |  Mysore |  Mumbai |  Pune |  Hyderabad |  Kolkata |  Delhi  
Indian Classics |  Profiles  |  Fixtures |  Video |  Archives |  Public Pulse |  In & Around |  Specials |  International |  Home  
Loading....
in   
 
News    Send comment   Send E-mail   Print the page

Summer season has plenty on offer

  April 21 , 2016
   

The Bangalore Summer Season, scheduled to start on Saturday, May 14 has rich stakes on offer, with four richly endowed terms races added to the impressive list, embellishing the season. There will be racing on 13 weekends with four-year-olds getting their due by way of having 11 graded races. The added money for these races is substantial.

The Bangalore St Leger becomes the first Leger in the country to be thrown open to four-year-olds and over, thus giving an opportunity for inter-generation contest. All these years, the St Leger was restricted to four-year-olds only. There have been other structural changes in the categorisation of horses which was forced due to the fact that the scale has been compressed to 50 kgs which means that barring a few exceptions, the rest of the horses will be less than 100 points. Not long ago, the scales of weights were loosely spread over 100 kgs. The tight classification means that races will be more competitive in nature in lower categories. There will be less number of races in the lowest category.

A total of 25 crores will be distributed during the season. Performance linked bonus has gone up to 40 per cent which goes directly to the owners account.

The added money for graded races has gone up significantly. The added money for Gr 2 Maharaja`s Gold Cup is Rs 30 lakhs as against 25 lakhs that was on offer last year. The Gr 3 Bangalore City Sprint Championship has been upgraded and the added money to the race is Rs 24 lakhs. Similar increase has been accorded for other graded races as well making the summer season one of most rewarding seasons for race horse owners and trainers in a span of less than three months.

The category of races has been changed as follows: The existing 0 to 25 has been changed to 0 to 20. 20 to 45 is now 15 to 35, 40 to 65 is 30 to 50, 60 and above is 45-65 and 80 and above is 60 and above. The number of races for the lowest category are likely to come down because of this re-arrangement. The Kingfisher Derby has been scheduled for Sunday, July 10.

As has already been announced, trainer Pesi Shroff will be skipping the Bangalore Summer Season this year. While the absence of his horses is sure to rob some of the races the competitive interest, the trainer himself stands to lose substantial amount as the horses that he has at his disposal would have had a big say in the graded races. The kind of stake money that is being offered is the best in the country. The season also gives opportunity for talented younger horses to mature into top class performers. Trainer Malesh Narredu will however bring some competitive horses for the season though he says that some of his best three year olds who are highly promising but backward at this point of time. Trainer Karthik Ganapathy will be coming for the season after a longish break. He has reason to look forward to the season as he has highly hyped horse in Supreme General in his yard. The got abroad is scheduled to run on Sunday at Mumbai and the belief among racing circles is that the horse is something special. From Hyderabad, trainer Vittal Deshmukh will bring his quota of horses. Since the Leger has been thrown up, he has a chance to race Tintinnabulation to race in the classic.

There are couple of trainers from Kolkata who will be seen in action. Trainer Bharath Singh will test his wards against the might of local horses. James McKeown who got the license to train by RCTC last season has also brought a couple of horses to race during the summer season. These horses may well help him to have a symbolic presence at a centre where he originally tried to become a trainer. Looking at the list of horses that he now has at his command, he should have a fruitful season at Kolkata when the main season gets underway.

There are several unresolved issues which may cast a shadow on the running of races. For one, the agreement between the trainers` association and syces is due for renewal and it is sure to drag on for some time and may even result in industrial action if the problem does not get resolved in quick time.

Bangalore Turf Club Secretary S Nirmal Prasad retired after 30 years of distinguished service. The past chairman of the club had recommended to the present committee to continue his service as Chief Executive Officer so that the new incumbent gets the hang of the tricky assignment. However, some members of the committee played spoilsport. Worse, they did not even think it fit to honour the secretary who had worked for such a long period with great commitment.

The former Chairman of the club under whom Nirmal Prasad had worked along with past committee members and Stewards, arranged a party at their own cost on Wednesday at the turf club to honour the past Secretary. Incidentally, none of the present committee members of the club were invited for the function. About nine former chairmen of BTC and Chairman of Madras Race Club R Ramakrishnan were present on the occasion along with a host of past Stewards and Committee members. The past chairman who were present on the occasion were P G Belliappa, Vijendra Velu, S G Madhukar, C N Nataraj, D M Kumaraswamy, Vivek Ubhaykar, V Harimohan Naidu and Dr K M Srinivas Gowda. Another 15 past committee members and Stewards were also present. All these people had seen the secretary function from close quarters and they strongly believed the club would have been wise to keep his services while training the new incumbent.

 
 
  Post your comments   E-mail   Print
Total Comments : 8
Posted by Mukundan S. Chettiyappa on ( April 21 , 2016 )
It was my privilege to work with people like Mr. S. Nirmal Prasad during my days as a professional racing correspondent and as the author of the book on BTC`s history. I was saddened when various stories began to do their rounds on the way his services were dispensed with. It was good to learn that there are still chairmen - albeit former - and others who know that his tenure as the BTC`s secretary was laudable.
 
Posted by Manjunath on ( April 21 , 2016 )
The nine chairman who honoured Nirmal Prasad along with committee members have been part of the committee for the last 30 years. Two past chairmen who did not attend were P V Shetty and Jayant Shah because of health reasons. The two however were part of the team which felicitated the secretary. Two other persons who were chairman during the last 30 years were the late Marilingaiah and Y S Surendra. They too had high regard for the Secretary. This means that only one person who had been chairman in the last 30 years i.e. Harindra Shetty was the only person who was against and he is part of the present managing committee which has many newcomers who know nothing about the way the club had progressed in the last 30 years to become the highest revenue generating club in the country. Hence they are ignorant of history and hence cannot appreciate the value of the contribution made by the secretary.
 
Posted by Badram Suryaprakash on ( April 21 , 2016 )
It was nice being associated with former secretary of BTC Nirmal Prasad for over two decades. A very simple and hard working person with a wide knowledge of administration. He had handled several crisis tactically in his three decades of distinguished service. It is a pity that the committee has decided not to have his services extended though most of the members and stewards supported it. But it is a loss to BTC and not to Nirmal. I met him on the last day in office in his chamber and asked him about the farewell party. He simply smiled and said " I am not interested in such things". I really thank those who took interest in arranging a party at their own cost to honour the `gentleman`, Nirmal.
 
Posted by Suresh on ( April 21 , 2016 )
It is creditable that barring one former Chairman, all the past Chairman of the club have endorsed the contribution of Nirmal Prasad. The late Marilingaiah who was chairman for a considerable period of time would surely have supported the endorsement as well. It is a pity that the present committee chose not to extend his services though the majority were in favour. A handful of them were able to force their point of view because they wanted a free run to serve their vested interests.
 
Posted by Hunter on ( April 21 , 2016 )
The following part in your article is not clear.

There have been other structural changes in the categorisation of horses which was forced due to the fact that the scale has been compressed to 50 kgs which means that barring a few exceptions, the rest of the horses will be less than 100 points. Not long ago, the scales of weights were loosely spread over 100 kgs. The tight classification means that races will be more competitive in nature.
 
Posted by Ravi on ( April 21 , 2016 )
I don`t think that this type of an incident of so many funcitonaries of the club hailing the services of the secretary of the club unanimously had happened before anywhere in the country. The past chairman and committee members have taken pains to organize the function from their own money. This is indeed laudable. The certificate of excellence as the one given by these worthies should be enough compensation for Nirmal Prasad to feel good that his services were after all recognized by the majority.
 
Posted by Shanmugam on ( April 21 , 2016 )
Mukundan, even the present Chairman was totally in favour of Nirmal Prasad except that he was not able to speak up and get his way. He yielded to a handful of members who carried the day. In fact, the last committee itself had extended his term by three years but Nirmal Prasad did not take that offer and wanted the present committee to take forward the recommendation.
 
Posted by Ex-Steward on ( April 21 , 2016 )
I am sure that the number of ex-Stewards and committee members attending the felicitation party would have been substantially more if there was proper notice of the same. I was told that the function was basically arranged by former Chairmen. I for one would have surely been present along with many like-minded committee members of the past if I had intimation about the function.
 
Top
   
'


Live Results - Delhi, March 28 2024
 
Disclaimer: The views expressed in Reviews and Analysis depict the personal perspective of the authors only. The website does not subscribe to or endorse any of the same and is not responsible for adverse consequences. Every effort is made to provide accurate information, we are not responsible for any discrepancies that are beyond our control.
© 2008 Racing Pulse. All Rights Reserved. A Racingpulse Holdings Venture