PRESS CONFERENCE

Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Members of the Managing Committee of the Bangalore Turf Club Ltd., I have great pleasure in extending a warm welcome to all of you to this Press Conference.

Bangalore Winter Meeting 2016-2017, comprising 30 race days, is scheduled to commence on Friday, 4^th November 2016 and conclude on Saturday, 18^th March 2017. Racing will be held mainly on Fridays and Saturdays with the exception of The Bangalore Derby (Grade I) which has been scheduled to be run as usual, on the Indian Republic day i.e. Thursday, 26^th January 2017. The Highlight of the Season will be the running of the Invitational races on Saturday 4^th and Sunday 5^th March, 2017.

PROFESSIONALS:

(a)   82 Jockeys including 19 jockeys claiming allowance and 3 foreign jockeys namely David Allan, David Breux and Cedric Segeon have been issued ‘A’ license.  51 jockeys including 11 jockeys claiming allowance have been issued `B’ license for the season. In all, so far, 133 jockeys have been issued license and about 100 jockeys are expected to ride during the Meeting.

(b)   35 ‘A” licensed trainers are expected to take part in the Meeting. In addition, many ‘B’ licensed trainers are expected to run their wards in Graded and Classic races as well as during Invitation Cup weekend.

(c)    The following four trainers have completed their probationary period of two years and are entitled to the normal quota of 45 horses from Bangalore Winter meeting 2016-17:-

1.       Aravind G

2.       Azhar Ali

3.       Rajesh Narredu

4.       Sandhu G

CLASSIC RACES:

(a)               Added Money for Classic Races during Winter Meeting 2016-2017 will be as under:

(b)               Sincere efforts are being made to obtain sponsorship for The Bangalore Derby (Grade I).

(c)                Prospectus of Classic Races to be run during the year 2017-18 will be published shortly. Discussions are going on with M/s. United Breweries for renewal of sponsorship for the Kingfisher Ultra Derby Bangalore for another three years and it is expected that the added money and the guaranteed stakes may go up further from the existing level. 

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SWEEPSTAKES RACES:

(a)   Added Money for the sweepstakes Races during Bangalore Winter Meeting 2016-2017 has been enhanced as under:

   2015-16                       2016-17

  The Rajyotsava Trophy (Grade III)              -           Rs. 1500000                Rs.1800000

  The Bangalore Race Course 154^th Year                               

           Commemoration Trophy                    -           Rs. 1500000                Rs.1800000

  The Bangalore Juvenile Million (Grade III)   -           Rs. 1500000                Rs.1800000

  The Sprinters Trial Stakes (Grade III)          -           Rs. 1500000                Rs.1800000

  The Bangalore Turf Club Trophy  (Grade III)-           Rs. 1500000                Rs.1800000

  The New Year Cup (Grade III)                     -           Rs. 1500000                Rs.1800000

  The Stayers Trial Stakes                              -           Rs. 1200000                Rs.1500000

  The Chief Minister's Trophy                         -           Rs. 1200000                Rs.1500000

  The Ashoka Chakra Cup                               -           Rs. 1200000                Rs.1500000        

  The Madras Race Club Trophy                    -           Rs.   800000                Rs.1000000

  The Royal Calcutta Turf Club Cup                 -           Rs.   800000                Rs.1000000

(b)   One more Sweepstakes race namely, The RWITC Trophy carrying an added money of Rs. 10 lakhs has been introduced from this winter for 3-year-olds to be run over 1400 meters with a view to providing more opportunities for Younger horses.                 

ORDINARY RACES:

The level of stakes for all the categories during Bangalore Winter Meeting 2016-17 will be the same as that of Summer 2016.

INCENTIVES AND SUBSIDY:

(a)               Additional incentive of 15% has been sanctioned on all stakes earned by the owners of local horses in ordinary races during Bangalore Winter Meeting 2016-17.

(b)               Performance linked incentive in respect of local horses in ordinary races would be paid as per the following revised scale:

  2015-16                       2016-17

                        Winner                        :           Rs. 30,000                   Rs. 42,000

                        Second                         :           Rs. 15,000                   Rs. 21,000

                        Third                            :           Rs.   9,000                   Rs. 12,600

                        Fourth                          :           Rs.   3,750                   Rs.   4,872

                        Fifth                             :           Rs.    1,875                   Rs.   2,352

                        Sixth                            :           Rs.       940                  Rs.   1,176

(c)                10% incentive would continue to be paid on stakes earned in ordinary races by horses bred in the State of Karnataka.

(d)               20% incentive would continue to be paid on stake money earned by small owners of local horses in ordinary races.

(e)               Fodder Subsidy @ Rs. 1000 per horse per month will be paid to all horses, provided the horse runs twice during the period 1^st November, 2016 to 31^st October, 2017 under BTC rules or earns stakes for any place at least once during the said period.

(f)                 Horses aged 4 years old and over who have not placed first, second, third or fourth in their last ten starts as on 1^st November, 2016 will not be eligible for either subsidy or incentives.

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STAKE  MONEY:

(a)   Aggregate of stakes, cups, incentives, subsidy and contributions for the Winter Meeting are detailed hereunder, involving a total outlay of Rs. 27.38 crores:

 (Rs. in lakhs)

(b)   With a stakes of nearly Rs. 25 crores having been already paid during Bangalore Summer Meeting 2016, a record breaking aggregate stakes of Rs 52.35 crores is expected to be paid out during the year 2016-17. Perhaps, it would be the highest stake money offered ever in the history of Indian Racing by any club during a financial year.

NO. OF RACES AND HORSES:

(a)   In the light of the fact that only 260 two-year-olds have evinced interest as against the permissible limit of 315, Stewards have decided to allot stables to trainers for any additional 2-year-olds subject to the maximum permissible limit of horses per trainer.

(b)   15 stables have been earmarked for allotment on a permanent basis to the following category of outstation horses to participate in Bangalore Races:

(1)               Horses aged 3 years.

(2)               Horses aged 4 to 6 years rated 50 and above under B.T.C. Rules of racing.

INDIAN TURF INVITAION CUP:

It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce that it is the turn of Bangalore Turf Club ltd. to host THE INVITATIONAL RACES during the meeting. The Sprinters’ Cup (Grade I) and The Stayers’ Cup (Grade I) will be run  on Saturday, 4^th March, 2017 and The Indian Turf Invitation Cup (Grade I) and The Super Mile Cup (Grade I) will be run on Sunday, 5^th March, 2017. It is expected to be a Grand gala affair involving a stake money of 4.7 crores for the weekend. All the events during the weekend are expected to be sponsored.

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SALIENT FEATURES:

(a)               Number of races will be restricted to a maximum of Eight on all race days.

(b)               With a view to encouraging participation in long distance races, Stakes for the races run over 1600 meters and more have been enhanced to be on par with stakes paid to the next higher category.                                                                               

(c)                Minimum number of acceptors has been revised from 8 to 6 in respect of races for 2-year-olds (in the months of November and December) and also for races run over a distance of 1600 meters and more. In all other ordinary races minimum number of acceptors will continue to remain at 8.

(d)               Maximum number of acceptors in respect of ordinary races will continue to be 12 except in Sweepstake, Classic, Graded and Invitational Races where in the maximum number of acceptors would be 18.

(e)               Nine races including two races for Indian Jockeys claiming allowance have been reserved prohibiting the use of whip.

(f)                 In spite of sparse rainfall in the last two months, every effort has been made to maintain the track in good condition.

(g)             A state of the art high resolution digital camera is being imported at a cost of about

 Rs. 16 lakhs and is expected to be functional before the Turf Invitation weekend.

GENERAL:

(a)               Rating Book containing the ratings of all horses will be published before the commencement of Bangalore Winter Meeting 2016-17.

(b)               Jockeys will continue to be subjected to a breath analyzer test on every race day for detecting the presence of alcohol.

(c)                19 Bookmakers in the first enclosure and 4 Bookmakers in the second enclosure are expected to operate during Bangalore Winter Meeting 2016-17.

(d)               630 betting terminals will be in operation, including 115 betting terminals at off-course betting centres located outside the racecourse.

BOARD OF APPEAL:

Board of Appeal has been reconstituted as under for the period 1^st November 2016 to 1^st May 2017:

Mr. Jayant Shah (Chairman)

Mr. M Lokesh

Mr. N.S.Megharikh

Mr. I.S.N.Prasad

Mr. V.L.Theagaraj

Mr. J.Alexander

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

I thank you all for the help extended to Bangalore Turf Club in the past.  On behalf of the Managing Committee, I  seek your support in providing wide coverage for the Winter Races.

While seeking your cooperation and the support of racing patrons, I wish you and the racing patrons a successful Meeting.

Bangalore.                                                                                       (N. HARINDRA SHETTY)

Dated: 2^nd November 2016                                                      CHAIRMAN & SENIOR STEWARD