Happiness and relief were the common feelings at the Bangalore Turf Club as racing was back in the city on Sunday after a lengthy Covid-19-forced break.
The virus outbreak had brought racing activities to a standstill in the second week of March. Multiple attempts to hold a short season had failed and the growing number of coronavirus cases in the city forced the BTC to cancel the summer season.
All stakeholders were financially hit by the pandemic and given the grim scenario, a couple of months back, the resumption of racing was a “joyous occasion to everyone involved in the sport”, felt BTC chairman Vinod Sivappa.
“BTC is the first club in the country to begin racing amid the pandemic. We have prepared rigorously and gone through so much pain to make this happen. Everybody worked hand-in-hand and offered a lot of support,” Sivappa told DH.
The chairman thanked the State government for giving the nod to hold racing.
The first of the five-race days of the winter meeting offered a glimpse of the new normal. Absence of fans, social distancing and jockeys with masks made for an unprecedented atmosphere. Despite the changes, it is important for the show to go on, said ace jockey Suraj Narredu.
“It was like going back to school,” Suraj told DH. “I was excited to meet my friends, to get on the horse and reach the starting gate. Of course, we missed the cheering of the crowd but it’s good that we have started racing. We made sure we maintained social distancing in the jockey room. Winners verbally greeted each other. There was constant sanitisation of all the rooms,” Suraj explained.
Lokanath Gowda, president of the Karnataka Trainers Association, expressed satisfaction at the arrangements at the BTC. “The entire racing fraternity is glad that everything went off well,” he said.
Around 40 owners’ passes were issued for around 110 horses. The second race day is on November 7.