July 15, 2008	Tuesday	Rajab 11, 1429

KARACHI, July 14: The administration of the Karachi Race Club (KRC) has fired some 32 regular employees on Sunday in order to curtail the expenses of the institution which is going through some difficult times these days.

This is the second time during the current year that retrenchment has taken place at the club. It may be mentioned that as many as 67 daily wages and regular employees were shown the door in the first phase.

Information gathered by Dawn reveals that the KRC accounts are running in ‘red’ which is hard to believe. There are many factors responsible for the present scenario but insiders believe that ‘unofficial’ betting for the South African races across the city is chiefly responsible in affecting horse racing at the KRC.

Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara, who is patron of the club, chaired a meeting of the KRC officials, owners, and turf accountants after the weekly races on Sunday to find an amicable solution to the crisis.

Statistics show that a marked decline has been witnessed in the number of turf accountants in the recent past. Presently, some 12/13 of them turned up for the weekend races as opposed to 25/26 that used to show up earlier.

Pir Pagara called upon the turf accountants to increase books in order to bring the club out of crisis. Some turf accountants suggested holding fair races and increasing the number of active horses are vital to attracts turf accountants. At present, there are some 100 active horses which belong to four to five prominent owners.

The meeting was attended among others by the KRC administrator Haji Khuda Bux Rajar, owners Syed Ismail Shah, Syed Khurram Anwar Ahmed, Tauseef Ali Siddiqui, Faisal Farooq, members of the racing committee, Irfan Mehdi, Kamal Farooq and Gul Mohammad Rajar, turf accountants Syed Munawwar Ali, Naeem Tony, Malik Ashqeen and deputy secretary KRC, Syed Ali Akbar Shah Rashdi.