RTC begins 2017 season

With its first race day for 2017 set to take place this Saturday, 25 February, the Royal Turf Club (RTC) has taken adequate steps to ensure the horses involved in races are well looked after. 

After years of speculation on how horses were treated and inappropriate conduct of former handlers of horseracing, where it was deemed that horses were subjected to cruelty, the RTC has reached a level where its priority is none other than the wellbeing of the animal.

“We are totally against animal cruelty. There were was speculations that horses were not treated promptly in the past and other hearsay from the recent past were so disturbing that we made it priority to see horses are well treated. With that set in mind the RTC has worked its way accordingly to fit international standards with the help of our experts namely Wayne Wood, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Riding Expert and Stipendiary Steward, Sinclair Marshall. Within a short span the RTC has been able adhere greater standards,” Panduka Keerthinanda, the newly-elected President of RTC, stated.  

Horseracing, a sport that has its roots running back to over 150 years in Sri Lanka, enjoyed its days of glory under the British, who introduced the pastime as a hobby to the country. It’s a known fact of the legendary horse ‘Cotton Hole’ owned by T.G. Francis, travelled all the way to the Queen’s country to expand its winning streak at major events. Sri Lanka boasted of three horseracing tracks – in Boosa, a town closer to the southern capital of Galle, Colombo and Nuwara Eliya, the only existing track managed and maintained presently by the RTC. 

While upgrading the features at the Nuwara Eliya racecourse with state-of-the-art features basically needed for modern-day horseracing, the RTC also took steps to include new additions focusing the horses. 

One of the best decisions taken in the recent times, according to Keerthinanda, is appointing Dr. Jayachandra Balaji, a renowned veterinarian from India. Dr. Balaji has been kept busy in the recent months with the RTC’s latest addition to the Nuwara Eliya property, the Equine Veterinary Clinic, which has lent a helping hand to horses owned by outsiders, in particular the Sri Lanka Police. 

“Animal welfare is one of the prime objective of the RTC. We conducted a study into animal welfare starting from the time a horse is imported to the time it is housed in Nuwara Eliya and it has resulted in immense improvements in the RTC Welfare mechanism. For instance, horses headed to Sri Lanka were tied to trees in a coconut plantations in Tuticorin, a city in the southern part of India and allowed to face the weather, while waiting for ships to take them to Sri Lanka. RTC has built temporary stables in Tuticorin to house horses pending shipment. RTC also has built special padded containers to ensure horses are not uncomfortable while being transported to Sri Lanka,” Keerthinanda explained. 

In addition, RTC has imported special steriline padded starting gates with fail safe opening systems to eradicate accidents in starting gates. In addition Keerthinanda stated that, new racing rules have been introduced where jockeys can use only pain free air brushes for whipping and the maximum instances of whipping is limited to five times per race. 

“Our objective is to conduct ‘whip-less’ races and the RTC is confident that by end of 2017, jockeys will be sufficiently trained for that. Already some races conducted by RTC are whip-less. We are really proud to state that a standard and up-to-date ambulance for horses has reached the Sri Lankan shores and we are trying our best to make necessary arrangement to feature it in this Saturday’s races. Failing that it will definitely come handy during the April season and onwards,” he revealed. 

The RTC has adopted a standard practice which Sinclair Marshall introduced as a guideline that owners and trainers should improve the living conditions of their stables. Regular inspection of stables are carried out and warning letters are regularly issued to owners and trainers who fail to maintain standards of their stables. 

RTC’s latest feature, the first-ever Equine Hospital in Sri Lanka also is set to play a major role in animal welfare. The hospital consists of the most modern equipment such as a clear vision DR9000F Portable FPD digital X-ray system, which is capable of generating a superior diagnostic image within a period of one minute, an expand ultrasound high resolution touch screen scanner and the entire range of state-of-the-art dental equipment. The hospital is also fully stocked up with a wide range of medications ready to treat horses at any given time. 

So far with the help of these additions, the RTC has been able to save close to 20 horses in danger of losing their lives. These additions have made horseracing a safe sport and the RTC premises in Nuwara Eliya a haven for horses in Sri Lanka. The benefits of these features are directly and positively making an impact on the horse owners, a fraternity that is growing in numbers. 

“The RTC in Nuwara Eliya ensures the health of the horses as its first and foremost priority, which is evident by the fabulous and good work done by the Resident Veterinarian in saving the life of the more than 15 valuable race horses from the grave. The addition of latest and finest equipment to the equine hospital aiding for the accurate diagnosis and make the horses free from its ailments at the earliest. These are safe, reliable and easy to use and has benefited many horses, including mine. These kind of positive input will definitely place the horse owner’s trust on RTC. I’m an ardent animal lover and I’m confident that our horses are in safer hands now,” Deepthika Jayakody, the owner of a number of champion horses in the current racing setup, expressed her delight. 

After a brief recess the RTC have made all arrangements to kick off its 2017 horseracing season with the Independence Race Day this Saturday, 25 February at the Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya. 

The racing activities of RTC comes alive after nearly three months since it had its major event back in November 2016 with a chain of race days planned ahead. This race will follow with RTC’s three important races on 2, 16 and 29 April.