September 24, 2003	Wednesday	Rajab 26, 1424

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KARACHI, Sept 23: The mid-week Karachi Summer Gymkhana races scheduled to be held on Wednesday have been cancelled as the bookmakers did not approve the acceptors released by the club management on Tuesday.

The club which has no resources of its own to offer stake money to the runners has to depend totally on the donation made by the bookmakers on every race day.

In a way, the bookmakers are the masters. The donors had a grouse with the present managing committee which had refused to accept to their demand of cancelling a race on July 23 in the controversial running of Shane Bond.

The following week the bookmakers took a stand that they will not put up their stalls which meant they will not donate for the running of the races.

The club management then book a stand and managed to hold the races for one race day as the management had succeeded in partially breaking the unity among the bookmakers.

Now this time, the club management could not take a firm stand as the present managing committee’s term expired on August, and they are holding to their office illegally.

The bookmakers found the iron hot to strike when they fully realised that the illegal body cannot take any action against them and their days are numbered as eight out of ten members will be ineligible to contest the elections.

On Tuesday the club management went through the drill of final scratching and released the final list of runners which in racing terms is known as acceptors.

The bookmakers did not find the acceptors favourable and refused to patronise it on Wednesday. It meant that the bookmakers want the acceptors to be made of their choice. Since they finance it they perhaps were justified.

It is a shame that the incompetent managing committee failed to take a stand this time.

The bookmakers nowhere in the world have any say in the schedule of racing. In fact, they are kept at a distance whereas in Pakistan and especially in Karachi, the bookmakers are seen roaming in the offices of the club management.

They perhaps have a right as the club just cannot hold even a day’s racing without their patronage.

The bookmakers who last time bowed before the administration because of split in their ranks regrouped themselves this time and made the management eat their humble pie.

It is a shame that bookmakers have taken a position which is debatable. It is not their privilege to accept or reject the final list of runners. The bookmakers have gone beyond board just because they know it fully well that the illegal body cannot take any stand.

The stand taken by the bookmakers has no parallel in the history of racing except for Karachi where they are asserting their authority.

The Sindh Government, perhaps is finding it very difficult to take a decision because of the involvement of a political figure who is a keen lover of the sport.

The club management’s apathy can be assessed from the fact that it failed to even inform the media on telephone or issue a press release as the race-goers were told on Sunday that the next races will be held on Wednesday.

The president of the Bookmakers Association, Mr Munawwar, when contacted by Dawn said that we refused to operate as the acceptors looked uncompetitive.

He, however, failed to explain as to what he meant by non-competitive. The club management preferred to remain out of picture as they have lost their official status.