<b>In lighter vein

The all pervasive mobile phone seems to have robbed the charm that was associated with horse racing in the past. The mobile phone has made possible last minute communication between the absentee race horse owners, its trainer and even the jockeys even though the use by the last named is officially not permitted. Somehow, the ingenious jockeys have managed to take the mobile phone to the weighing room and there have been instances of jockeys having been punished for use of mobile phone in the most unlikely of places.

Old timers tell of several ingenious ways trainers and jockeys adopted to convey the information about whether their horses were out for an airing or were serious jobbers which very often resulted in comical situations which caused wrong messages to be conveyed. The Straight Dial Link (STD) facility was the only way instant communication was possible two decades ago and since phones were not available for use inside the race course premises, several vehicles would be stationed outside the race course gates to ferry informants to the STD booths to convey information to people sitting at other centers. Some of the turf clubs were still recently practicing the system of switching off their entire telephone exchange system and allowing only one phone to be used for conveying any emergency message from outside, with a person appointed to specially take care of the instrument and note down the numbers which were dialed from that phone.
Race-horse owners are generally wary of their jockeys and trainers revealing information about horses well before they have a bet. And if the bet is placed well before the running of a race, there was also a possibility that somebody could get at the horse or to the jockey to influence the way the horse was run. The decision about whether they would try their horse or not was often reserved till the last minute. This was specially so in the case of owners who believed only in gambles and wanted to keep everyone guessing as to their intention till the last minute.

Interestingly on one of those monsoon race days, a trainer had informed his punters that if he opened the umbrella in the paddock; it was a signal to back his horse. The trainer was with one of the leading owners of India. It so happened that it began to rain all of a sudden and the owner asked the trainer to open umbrella. The trainer could not obviously convey a wrong signal to his punters by opening his umbrella as the instruction was to give the horse a run. The trainer had to use all the tact to slip away without opening the umbrella even as his puzzled owner was left wondering what was wrong with the trainer!

Another leading owner recalled that his trainer had indicated that if he took out his hand kerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, it was a signal for him to run to the bookmakers ring and back the horse. It so happened that due to excessive heat, the trainer was sweating profusely and he forgot that he was not supposed to take out his hanky and wipe his sweat but he did so forced by circumstances. The result was big all round loss.

Sachin Tendularkar`s gesture at the crease in cricket does not have any hidden meaning. But every gesture of a jockey could be intended to convey a different message. Jockeys holding the whip in their right hand or left continues to be one of the favourite modes of communication as quite often he is kept guessing by the owner and trainer as to whether the horse he is riding is a jobber or not. The jockey would have informed his bettors that he would hold the whip in right or left hand as the case may be which is an indication whether he is on or off. It so happened that the owner of a particular horse had already been tipped off about jockey conveying this sort of a message by holding the whip in right hand. He asked the jockey to hold the whip in his right hand, not to look here and there and head straight to the starting gate with his head bent down but at the same time to finish last in the race. As a result, wrong message was relayed by the jockey to his legion of punters and the resultant loss also highlighted the pitfalls of such an approach though this method continues to be used. With the live telecast of paddock parade, this is the most preferred mode of communication used by jockeys.

Then we have race course commentators who also try and get information at the paddock by virtue of their official position which gives them access to professionals. Quite often, we hear the commentators stress a particular horse with use of words like ``quoted at`` or stress on horse number if they want to convey a message about the tip that they have procured. For example, he may announce the odds of horses by calling out the names of horses but when it comes to the horse he wants to stress on, he uses the expression horse number so and so. The horse ``is at``, `next in demand`, `available at` are another expressions used to pass on a tip.

One has seen the trainers who normally come to the stand after paddock formalities but when they cannot convey any sort of a message, they are forced to walk away towards the weighing room as the instruction from the race horse owner would be to avoid any sort of contact or conversation to keep everyone guessing as to their intention. One other signal is when the trainer himself comes personally to give a leg up to the jockey. Of course, each of these gestures is not generic but specific to individuals.

The advent of mobile phone has resulted in instant dissemination of information. There are owners who inform the trainer to carry a particular mobile phone and if it were to vibrate, then it is a signal for the trainer to give instructions to the jockey to try and win the race. The more recent though not universally used method is asking jockeys to hide mobile phone in their helmet with the instruction that if it were to vibrate, he should try the horse. This way the information is even kept away from the race horse trainer so that he cannot pass on the information to many of his supporters. This is to ensure that in the absence of clear cut information, the price of the horse drifts out and runs at a generous quote.

Surely, the modern day wonder is often used to perform the function for which it was not invented!