“GUINDY’S SILENT BLEEDING MUST STOP
— RACING CAN’T SURVIVE ON COMPROMISE ANYMORE”
By Turf Tracker (Mahindar Singh Rathore)
Indian racing has seen storms
before. It has survived wars, economic collapses, political hostility, social
stigma, and the slow choking of legislative restrictions. But what is happening
in Chennai today is not a storm. It is not a crisis. It is a silent bleeding —
a quiet, continuous, dignity-crushing erosion of the very soul of horse racing
in Tamil Nadu. Guindy is not collapsing with noise; it is being smothered with
silence. And if this fraternity does not wake up now, we may end up writing an
obituary rather than a roadmap of revival.
Let us not pretend anymore. Racing
in Tamil Nadu is fighting for survival, but the fight is not against
competition, or audience decline, or modern entertainment options. The fight is
against systemic indifference, regulatory suffocation, and a
culture of compromise that has infected the very people who are supposed to
protect this sport. When a club stops defending its own existence and chooses
survival over dignity, its decline is no longer unfortunate — it is self-inflicted.
Here is a truth many know but few
dare say aloud: If racing in Tamil Nadu dies, it won’t be because the
government killed it — it will be because the racing establishment surrendered
without a fight.
For years, the Madras Race Club has
walked on eggshells, fearful of upsetting the state’s political and
bureaucratic machinery. Permissions delayed, licences restricted, racing
curtailed, and the club forced into a corner — this is not regulation, this is
slow strangulation. Racing is treated as a moral sin rather than a sport, and
the MRC has responded with apologetic compliance, not assertive advocacy.
The government’s stance has often
projected racing as a vice that needs policing, not as a sport that breeds
employment, equine excellence, tourism, revenue, and heritage. Tamil Nadu’s
racing centre is one of the oldest in Asia — a historic sporting institution —
yet it has been forced to operate like an unwanted tenant on borrowed time. And
somewhere along the way, the club accepted this humiliation as normal.
Let us be clear: Governments do
not respect institutions that do not respect themselves.
Racing in Tamil Nadu is one of the
state’s oldest sporting and cultural legacies. Yet the very ecosystem that
should have defended its legacy now survives on nervous diplomacy and cautious
silence. The club’s priority for years has been: “Don’t anger the authorities.”
The result? A sport with 250 years of legacy has been reduced to pleading for
basic operational oxygen.
This article is not written to
please anyone. It is written because the fraternity deserves an honest mirror.
It is written because people inside and outside the industry need to feel the
urgency — not tomorrow, not next year, but now.
The racing community needs to stop
acting like a group of powerless dependents and start behaving like
stakeholders of a serious industry. Owners invest crores, trainers dedicate
their lives, jockeys risk their bodies every day, stable staff survive on
meagre earnings, and thousands of families depend on racing wages. This is not
a hobby; it is an industry, a livelihood, a bread-and-butter machine for
thousands. And yet, it is treated like a social nuisance.
Let one explosive truth sink in: Racing
in Chennai has been pushed into a corner because the industry allowed itself to
be treated as guilty until proven innocent.
We tiptoe. We whisper. We avoid
confrontation. We compromise. We tolerate. And each compromise takes one more
bite out of racing’s spine. Guindy does not need caretakers anymore — it needs
fighters. It needs leadership that can speak truth to power, with dignity, with
data, with conviction, and with courage. Not aggression, not disrespect — but
firm, articulate, unshakeable assertion of the sport’s legitimacy and rights.
What hurts the most is not the
government’s treatment — politics will always be politics — what hurts is the
way the racing fraternity accepted the shrinking of its own space. Instead of
building alliances, presenting economic data, demonstrating social value,
showcasing equine sport heritage, and asserting its stake in Tamil Nadu’s
sports ecosystem, the club shrank into survival mode. When survival becomes the
strategy, death becomes the outcome.
Racing cannot be run with a refugee
mentality. It needs leadership with a vision, a voice, and a backbone.
The fraternity must ask itself: When
did we stop fighting for our own sport?
If racing had been treated with
fairness, we wouldn’t be here. If licences were granted regularly, if
operations were supported like any other sport that employs thousands, if
decisions were taken with consistency rather than unpredictability, the racing
ecosystem would not be gasping today. But the government’s “moral” posture over
racing has always been selective — lotteries are fine, TASMAC liquor shops dot
every kilometre, but horse racing is somehow the villain? The hypocrisy is not
subtle, and it is not new.
Yet, the solution is not a street
fight with the government. Tamil Nadu’s government is not the enemy —
ignorance, perception, and lack of engagement are. Racing needs to be
positioned as a sport, an economy, a tourism contributor, a cultural heritage
asset — not as a gambling activity. That transformation of narrative is long
overdue.
But while we highlight the state’s
lopsided approach, we must also hold a mirror to the racing system itself. It
is time to acknowledge that MRC too has not always been proactive, innovative,
communicative, or strategically agile in guarding its future. Keeping quiet and
hoping things will normalise is not a strategy — it is surrender.
The truth that burns is this: Racing
in Tamil Nadu did not drift into crisis — it sleepwalked into it.
What
Lies Ahead – A Moment of Truth
The next 60–120 days will define the
fate of the Madras Race Club for the next 20 years. This is no longer a
dispute — it is a referendum on whether the sport of horse racing in Tamil
Nadu will survive or be silently buried under political ego and bureaucratic
overreach.
Three things can happen from here:
1. A Constructive Compromise
If wiser counsel prevails, the
government and MRC reach a revenue-sharing and regulatory clarity model similar
to Delhi or Maharashtra.
Racing survives. Jobs survive. Tamil Nadu retains its heritage.
2. A Prolonged Hostile Standoff
Courts, interim stays,
counter-appeals, policy ambiguity.
The club bleeds. Horse population migrates. Racing becomes irregular and loses
its betting turnover.
This is the slow death scenario.
3. Government Takeover or Licence Cancellation
If mistrust deepens, the state may
seek to directly control racing or encourage alternate operators under
state-aligned structures.
If that happens, MRC will cease to remain a “club” and become a “department”,
killing the very soul of the sport.
The
Racing Fraternity Must Not Stay Silent Anymore
This is not the time for polite
drawing-room diplomacy or whispered frustration in the parade ring.
What is needed now is Unified, Vocal,
Organised Solidarity:
📍 Owners must demand time-bound resolution
📍 Trainers & Jockeys must present the economic
crisis data to the CM’s office
📍 Breeders & Stud Farms must make a joint
representation showcasing revenue and employment impact
📍 Bettors & Punters must raise their voice on
public platforms
📍 Racing Media must highlight facts, not sanitised
club-friendly narratives
If racing in Tamil Nadu collapses, Hyderabad,
Bangalore and Mysore will feel the ripple, followed by Pune, Delhi and Kolkata.
The fall of one centre weakens the national ecosystem. The government may
believe this is a local issue — it is not. It is a national alarm bell.
A
Final Word
Horse racing in Tamil Nadu has
survived wars, floods, political upheavals and financial storms.
It can survive this too — but not if the fraternity watches passively.
If the Madras Race Club bends with
dignity, reforms with transparency, and negotiates with strategic maturity, it
will emerge stronger than ever.
If it folds under pressure, Tamil Nadu racing will become a chapter in history,
not a living sport.
This is a battle for survival,
yes — but also a fight for respect.
Respect for heritage, for sport, for livelihoods, and for the thousands who
built the legacy of racing in Chennai.
The question is no longer “Can
MRC come out of this mess?”
The real question is:
Does the racing fraternity have the
courage, unity and urgency to ensure that it does?
Because destiny is not decided in
courtrooms or secretariats alone — it is decided by those who care enough to
fight for it.
—
Written by Mahindar Singh Rathore (“Turf Tracker”)
India’s only independent racing
analyst covering all racing centres and the Chief Editor of INHorseracing.com
Former racehorse trainer | Racing journalist for 20+ years
