More trouble brewing at Turf Club

After a doping tale rocked the Bangalore Turf Club on Thursday, more cracks appeared in the club’s management, with a no-confidence motion against the chairman N Harindra Shetty set to be tabled on Sunday.

Allegations of financial irregularities have been levelled against Shetty, with one of the managing committee members, C Kanthraj Urs, in a letter to media, taking exception to the chairman’s recent decision to approach the chief minister, complaining about BTC affairs in a letter.

“All the managing committee members of the club have called for a no-confidence motion against Shetty on April 23,” Urs said.

“The rule is to send a notice ten days in advance to the person concerned. We sent a letter to Shetty expressing our displeasure in his continuance as the chairman of BTC. On Sunday we will elect a new chairman who will serve until the end of September (when elections are due).”

Shetty had written to the chief minister complaining of illegal activities at BTC. Urs said it was nothing but a classic case of sour grapes. He said Shetty didn’t follow proper procedures while awarding contracts to various works undertaken at the BTC.
“His actions smack of arbitrariness and an attempt to derive personal benefit from the deals. Mention may be made of the solar lighting contract, security cameras, employing people through agencies of which he supposedly has an interest.”

Refutes claims

Shetty, however, refuted the claims and asked his detractors to prove the charges.
“All decisions were made after taking the managing committee into confidence,” he said.

“Let them prove first that I’ve been involved in fraudulent practices. They want me out because they are scared that all the skeletons will tumble out of the closet. One by one they all will fall in line and back me on Sunday. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Urs said a decision on Queen Latifa, whose dope report triggered the latest battle, will be made after the new chairman is elected.

“The same stewards who were conducting the enquiry on Queen Latifa will continue to do so. They will suggest to the chairman what should be the next course of action.”

Reports have suggested procedural flaws on part of BTC in the handling of Queen Latifa, whose urine sample collected after KROA Million during the Invitation Cup Weekend showed traces (1.22 nanograms per millilitre) of Procaine Penicillin but Urs felt all parties concerned with the three-year old filly were not at fault.

“Firstly, Procaine Penicillin is not a performance enhancer. It’s just an antibiotic and was administered by veterinary doctors of the BTC. The owners and trainer didn’t run the filly during the prescribed three-week safety period. And 1.22 is well within the 10 nanograms threshold level adopted by all the international labs while conducting tests on urine samples obtained from race horses. So, technically, nobody is at fault. However, an enquiry is on and the decision will be made soon.”

KROA disappointed

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association  (KROA) and Karnataka Trainers Association expressed disappointment over KROA member H S Chandre Gowda’s decision to file a criminal complaint over the Queen Latifa dope issue.

In a statement, they defended the handling of the filly, saying Gowda was indulging in a smear campaign. The medicine administered on Queen Latifa was for purely therapeutic reasons, they said. They urged that the split sample of Queen Latifa be subjected to a full analysis at an international accredited laboratory.

“The detection of Procaine to an extent of 1.22 nanograms per ml of urine sample is technically negligible and is far below the reporting levels accepted internationally,” they said.