Tradition meets innovation: Horse racing saddles best of both worlds
By Neha Madaan
TOI
The horse racing tradition in the city has picked up many modern trends as it traversed into the 21st century from the British raj — smart casuals, a modern monsoon track, LED screens and social networking now define the modern Pune race course. But some features, retained intentionally, still remain ingrained in the past.
The bell in the paddock, the colorful cones, manually operated boards displaying the odds, sounding of the buzzer when horses leave the gate and others lend an antiquated feel to the sport and are indispensible to the racing tradition.
Race enthusiasts say most operations have gone high-tech, but some traditional methods and rules of communication are still adhered to as they are intrinsic to this sport of yore.
Even as mammoth LED screens and monitors dot the length and breadth of the Pune race course for visitors to watch the race and its outcome with precision, cones of different col ours are still used to communicate various decisions in the race.
“The white cone is raised for All Clear', which means that ` there is no problem with the result of the race. The red cone is raised when there is an objection and so on,” a race-goer said.
The big metal bell in the paddock is still sounded to signal that the horses have left the stalls for the race ahead. Vivek Jain, chairman of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), told TOI that the club intentionally retains these practices as the sport is steeped in tradition.
“The bell need not be there, but is in use and operated due to its traditional significance in the sport. Similarly, sounding of the buzzer when horses get out of the gate is another traditional practice that we have retained. These are small traditional aspects which lend a nice touch to the sport,” he said.
Jain added that the RWITC authorities, however, have gradually done away with the manual boards. As was done in the past, manual boards, very few of which are in use now, are operated by designated personnel.
“When the horses finish racing, the top four horses’ numbers are presented manually on the board, displaying their positions. Likewise, the rule of the red and white cones being raised is part of the old way of communicating in the sport. Earlier, we had the bookmakers’ odds and jockey names put up on manual boards, but those have now been done away with,” said Jain.
Horse owner and a racing enthusiast for the past 25 years, Jehan Satarawala, who is also chief executive officer of Jaws events, said such rules and practices retain the old-world charm.
“When in the race course, you are in another world and it is nice to witness these practices that do not change,” said Satarawala, adding that he’d like to see the old dress-code back at the races.
Very English
Like cricket and croquet, horse racing in India is a legacy of the British Raj. The nomenclature of the Indian Classics (1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, Oaks, Derby and St Leger) devised in 1814 and even the clockwise running of the horses in the races follow the British practice. The horses racing in India in the early days were cavalry horses and chargers imported from Great Britain and Arabia.
The owners were mostly British, at times titled aristocracy and army officers. The first-generation Indian owners were the Maharajas of Cooch-Behar, Burdwan, Vadodara, Idar, Morvi, Kolhapur, Rajpipla and Mysore among others. They started racing their horses at Mahalaxmi and later in Pune after racing in Western India was started in 1880. Later on, industrialists like the textile tycoon Mathradas Goculdas and the Thackerseys joined their ranks. Some of them even had their horses racing in England. Two of the then big owners in Britain His Excellency The Aga Khan and Sir Victor Sassoon also had some of their horses running at Mahalaxmi.
