All is not well at Lahore Race Club

The Lahore Race Club which is one of the biggest horse racing arena of the country is on a verge of closure and the day is not far away that it would collapse with no owner left there to make the sport competitive that it used to be and that all due to a handful of people’s self-centred and money-mincing approach.
A couple of years back there were around 1600 horses in the stables of LRC with around 50-plus owners but now there are only 450 horses and just 15 owners left, who too are fed up of the policies adopted by the stewards of the LRC.
A group of certain people including Sh Waheed Akhtar, who is believed to be a steward-broker, Arif Qureshi, president book-makers, Shahzad Akhtar, secretary club, and Haji Aslam, caretaker plantation, have developed a monopoly at the race club with a couple of more people who are not only pocketing money from the book-makers but also not giving proper stake money to the winners of UK races. A person like book-maker Saeed Daniyal who a couple of year ago came to the club with nothing in pocket has now made enough money with these people’s support that he visit UK twice a week and play race there.
There are around 22 book-makers in the club and all of pay at least Rs 100,000 each on the race day but there is no development work seen in the entire facility. Only 15 to 20 sand trolleys are brought to spread on the track when there is a requirement of at least 100 trolleys.
As of the stake money for UK horse races, it has been fixed at Rs 20,000 for first six races when in Karachi it starts from Rs 35,000 and increases gradually to Rs 80,000 till the six races of the category. Then comes the gate money which is Rs 300 per person but there is no proper account where the money is being spent.
When it comes to races, they raise the bet money on the horses of others which drops the stake for the owner of the horse who is at the ultimate loss. They even change the rider at the last moment without the consent of the owner and when anybody objects to their wrongdoings they ban that person’s entry into the club and similarly sideline the owner or create problems for him in different manners.
On the other hand some of the customs department employees despite being government officers are occupying sound position in the club.
The club has also a fixed deposit of around Rs 160 million for which around Rs 1.5 million profit is coming to the club but where it goes no one is clear about it while there is no account of the tax being paid to the Punjab government.
There are around 80 riders registered in the club and if they agree to these people like Waheed and Arif they are given benefits otherwise they too are not allowed to take part in big races. They have also made their relatives members of the club and when the elections time comes they get through easily as they have pushed the big guns like Syeda Abida Hussain and Fakhr Imam away from the LRC.
When the LRC was contacted on these numbers 0423 5114040, 5112864, 5115002, the person picking the phone did not give answer to the queries. They ask to hold the phone for a while or keep the phone engaged or place it on the side.
Even fodder which comes under Haji Sb’s control, is grown at the club premises for all stake-holders but it is kept free for the persons monopolising the club while the owners who are backbone of the club have to buy it. In these circumstances when there is no check and balance and a couple of people are drawing money while making races on the behest of others, it seems the stewards are not serious to keep the club running while the owners are facing great difficulties. With no benefit in sight several owners have already left the LRC and the remaining would also follow suit if all of them at the club were not given their proper share of benefits.