LAHORE: The horse-racing fraternity here has pinned high hopes on the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Lahore Race Club (LRC) that it would take some positive steps to improve quality and quantity of horseracing, particularly of thoroughbreds which has shown a downward slide in recent past.
The AGM scheduled for this Sunday should trace out the causes of the down fall of thoroughbred racing, members of fraternity told Dawn. They said the LRC has been reduced to stage one or at the most two main events every Sunday with tiny fields and the reasons for the holding one race meeting in a week. Previously, races were twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.
They said it was very unfortunate that in spite of the fact that the best racing facility was available, staff was there and all stake-holders ready for cooperation then why the owners were not coming forward to accept the challenge. This needs to be probed.
They said when the racing facility was updated to international standards it was being hoped the racing as a sport would be further activated and boosted but instead it slid downwards.
The fraternity called for raising the standard of racing by cleansing the sport of mafia and professionals involved in malpractices.
They stressed the need for enforcing strict discipline and imposition of severe punishments on those involved in malpractices and violation of racing rules.
They said the induction of owners, trainers and riders should be based on quality to raise the overall standard and image of the equine sport.
This would result in attracting good people coming forward as owners and also attracting more and more people on the course.
Moreover, refresher courses should be conducted for the trainers and riders. For this expert professionals should be invited to conduct the courses.
For induction of owners, they said, should be standard criterion. An owner must possess a social and executive status, be capable of maintenance of a horse from legitimate resources and produce guarantee of being a man of means. He should also be an income tax payee.
In the past this was a yardstick for the admissibility of an owner and it was because of this set criterion that some of the turf luminaries registered as owners were of the calibre of General Iskandar Mirza, who later rose to become president of Pakistan, Mohammad Shoaib, the then finance minister, I.G Police S.N. Alam, Makhdumzada Syed Hasan Mahmud, Zulfiqar Ali Khan Mamdot, Ahmed Nawaz Bugti, Balakh Sher Mazari, Nowab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizalbash, Khan Qurban Ali Khan, Sardar Khizer Hayat Khan Tiwana, Syed Abid Hussain, Syedah Abida Hussain, Nowan Mehar Shah, Mian Saeed Saigol, Agha G.A. Gul, the Legharis, the Haroons, high-ranking civil and military officials, top industrials and business tycoons.
It may be pointed out here that some owners were so important to be included among the top Indian turf personalities in the All-India turf luminaries from above named owners in the racing calendar from April 1941 to March 1942, published for the Royal Calcutta Turf Club by Thackery Spinks and Co Vol LIV.
The fraternity further pointed out that the standard of trainers and riders, was much low compared to professionals of the other racing countries in Asia. Even the best and no match to them.
The main reason was lack of proper schooling and training facilities in the line of profession. For them refresher courses be conducted because they are the important factors for the uplift of racing standard in a country.
They hoped the AGM would ponder over the suggestions to remedy the situation in the interest of good horse-racing and quality thoroughbred breeding — the industry which provides employment to a large number of people connected with it.
Better racing would be instrumental in producing better thoroughbreds and attract more and more crowd leading to success of the entire industry.
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