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SPORTS: HORSE RACING
Horse Power
The investigation ordered
by Maneka Gandhi into the sport at India's eight racing centres is the
first step toward ending the brutality and corruption in the turf clubs
By
Sayantan Chakravarty
It's the horse that comes in first at the
finish that counts
—H.S. Truman
 And
so, as the famous line runs, they lash these equines to hurry to the finish
line. Simple horse sense you'd say, for there are few better sights in
sport than that of a rider crouched in beast-like concentration, whipping
ahead of the pack. But the line, evidently, does not impress Union Minister
for Social Justice Maneka Gandhi much. Never shy of whipping up a little
controversy herself, Gandhi has now made it clear to jockeys, turf associations
and stud-farm owners across the country that it is the horse that counts.
And therefore whipping in its present "brutal" form is unacceptable.
Gandhi's decision to end the free reign riders
enjoy comes after a year-long investigation conducted by her ministry
of India's eight racing centres: Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore,
Ooty, Chennai and Kolkata. The result: exhaustive video footage and substantial
field evidence show that there have been flagrant violations in the game
of racing on many counts. Apart from flogging, Gandhi's team found rampant
corruption in the import of the animals and the killing of "retired"
ones, and unearthed large-scale corruption in the manner betting (legal
or otherwise) takes place. Earlier this month, the ministry handed over
a thick horse file to the CBI for investigation.
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| NEIGH SAYER: Gandhi wants to weed out racing's
evils |
On June 20, following discussions with industry
members, it was decided that the older whips would be banned since their
use constituted a violation of the existing Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act, 1960, and the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules, 2000. The
minutes of the meeting made available to India Today state that "turf
authorities were unanimous that the shock-absorbing whip should be made
mandatory in all the racing centres in India".
Among those who attended the meeting were representatives
of the Turf Authorities of India (TAI), Race Horse Owners Federation of
India, Western India Trainers Association, National Horse Breeding Society
of India, Racing Academy of India, Indian Association of Equine Practitioners,
Royal Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and ministry representatives.
Says Nirmal Prasad, secretary general, TAI: "For the first time ever
we have agreed to being reviewed by the government."
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MANEKA'S PET PEEVES
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MARCH, 2001:
Directs Kerala Government to take state ownership
of all domestic elephants, set up elephant orphanages.
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JANUARY, 2001:
Prompts Punjab government to ban animal sports,
including bullock cart racing.
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DECEMBER, 2000:
Locks horns with Union railway minister Mamata
Banerjee over "illegal" rail transportation of cows from
Uttar Pradesh to slaughter houses in Howrah.
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OCTOBER, 2000:
Asks Lucknow Nagar Nigam to stop pig catching
drive; threatens to file an FIR.
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JUNE, 2000:
People for Animals slaps legal notice on R.
Mohan for cruelty to an elephant in his film Rani Ko Raja Se Pyaar
Ho Gaya.
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The only opposition to the move comes from the
Jockeys Association of India (JAI) that has moved a civil court in Mumbai.
Also according to JAI, by restricting lashing to eight times during the
race (currently jockeys do it 25-40 times in a race), the ministry will
rob the sport of its flavour. Contends Asif Lampwala of Advani and Co,
JAI's counsel: "The Union ministry is in no position to enforce things
since sports is a state subject. Also, the ministry's rules have not been
placed before Parliament, and, therefore, are not legally binding."
The JAI's argument in the court is that air-cushion whips imported by
the ministry were tried out in Bangalore in July, but the rubber coatings
fell off. This exposed the horses to the fibreglass rod under the rubber.
Besides, the whips are not stitched and bound, defeating the ministry's
own guidelines issued in March.
Another of Gandhi's findings is that scores of
"retired" horses have been "killed" either by being
starved or burnt to death. Then there is the less-than-trivial business
of betting, rampant in an industry that boasts of a declared annual turnover
of about Rs 50 crore and has an on-field spectatorship of anywhere in
the range of 60,000 each day across the country, far more than in sports
like hockey and tennis. Gandhi's team discovered that betting coupons
officially notified for Rs 50 actually amounted to Rs 5,000 and those
stamped Rs 100 to 100 times more. "Underpricing coupons is a way
of avoiding taxes," she says. "The sport has to be cleaned up
on many fronts."
| INTERNATIONAL
WHIP USAGE |
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| Air-cushion
whips, eight lashes per race |
| NATIONAL
WHIP USAGE |
| Leather-whale
bone whips, used up to 40 times in a race |
As dubious is the importing of equines into the
country. It is a system in which buyers indulge in flagrant violations
of the Foreign Exchange Maintenance Act with every transaction. Importers
acquire top horseflesh for anywhere between Rs 45 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore
in foreign markets. They then sell them to front companies, abroad again,
for Rs 10-20 lakh. These companies then sell them at the same price to
the importer, who sells it locally at the same price. The same man keeps
buying the same horse under different guises, before bringing it to the
country at the "price of a monkey" to avoid customs duty. Many
other lacunae have been spotted in the system. Jockeys attend no training
school; horses are transported in windowless, enormously constricting
float cages in which they often die; and urine samples (for steroid testing)
are sent to Hong Kong in the absence of indigenous laboratories.
The resolutions seek to bring to an end all
these violations. Apart from accepting shock-absorbing whips, the participants
agreed that henceforth they would not allow whipping in which the arms
are raised above shoulder height. They also decided that the number of
lashes would be restricted to eight in a single race; and that excessive
whipping would invite penal provisions ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000,
suspension for two racing days, and/or the withdrawal of the whip. Broad
consensus called for a common course to acquaint horse trainers with the
latest and the best methods worldwide. "Retired" horses would
be looked after from a common fund (to be set up) and float cages made
bigger to ensure healthy passage between centres.
The sport of racing is more popular than ever
before in India. But clearly, much needs to be done to weed out the many
ills that dot the tracks. The whip needs to be cracked hard on erring
associations, and offending importers. Betting syndicates have to be exposed.
Otherwise all that will count in the race is finishing first.
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