Scottish jockey David Allan, who has been riding with great success in India for more than a decade, expressed his concerns about Indian racing in an interview to Racing Post, a British daily on horse racing, on Monday.
“It’s not looking good and it doesn’t look like I’ll be going back. I’ve been keeping on top of it and some of the tracks are trying to get going again, but I can’t see where the funding is going to come from,” said Allan.
“There are no betting shops, like we have here, and they’re trying to get racing online, but the Government doesn’t seem particularly keen and hasn’t passed anything through,” added Allan.
Allan, who has been riding mostly for trainer S. Padmanabhan, has the distinction of winning three Indian Derbies (2011, 2016 and 2017). He has enjoyed great fan-following during his winter spell at racing centres like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
Clubs’ finances affected
Already facing severe financial issues due to the high Goods and Services Tax of 28% imposed since 2017, the horse racing industry has taken a massive hit for last four months post the COVID-19 outbreak, worsening the situation for race clubs.
With many countries in Europe and America having re-started racing, clubs here are waiting for the necessary permissions to resume racing activity.
