The decks have been cleared for racing to resume at Bangalore Turf Club from Friday.
The BTC managing committee, as promised, held two mock races on Wednesday to ascertain the readiness of the course following a mishap on November 15, the opening day of the season, which saw angry punters vandalise the premises. An after-race inspection on Wednesday by senior jockeys, trainers, and stewards had found the course fit for racing.
In all, 10 races, including the Rajyotsava Trophy and The Royal Calcutta Turf Club Cup (postponed from last week), will be held. The latter two will be the main events of the day. The mock races saw participation from 12 jockeys, including experienced riders such as P.S. Chouhan, president of the Jockeys Association of India (JAI), astride Yerwan, T.S. Jodha, helming Love Music, and Englishman David Egan, in charge of Debonair. All of them expressed their satisfaction.
The conduct of multiple mock races had in fact been a pending demand from the JAI even prior to the start of the season. But the authorities had certified the track fit for racing after just one race, much to the annoyance of the jockeys, before last week’s happenings forced a rethink.
In the 1,200m November Plate last Friday, one of the horses, the second favourite to win, lost her footing in the final furlong and broke her leg due to bad weather conditions. It resulted in two other horses taking a tumble, and an unfancied horse claiming the honours, leaving punters furious.
