Saniya K

Cricket enthusiast, Horse racing ❤️
love travelling and exploring different cultures

[Mysore Race Club @MysoreRaceClub]

As the sun sets over the iconic domes, Mysuru turns into a canvas of gold and crimson. Pure evening serenity. 🌆🧡

📍 Mysore Race Club

#NammaMysuru #MysoreTurf #SunsetVibes #IncredibleIndia #KarnatakaTourism #SunsetLovers

[Ontario Racing @ONTRacing]

How a man with just one horse bred a $3,500 mare, ended up with the likely King’s Plate favourite and proved even the smallest breeder can succeed if the positive energy is flowing.
https://t.co/7ZK9EDPMxe
#betontario
(Ravi Sugrim with Luster's brother Whatsyoursismine)

[sanjay kasturia @sanjaykasturia]

Cool, cloudy mornings, the rhythmic sound of hooves, and horses powering through their gallops ,there’s something magical about mornings at the racecourse. 🐎@rwitcmumbai @WHR @RaceMirror @indiaracedotcom @Racebuzzlive #pune #racecourse #mornings

[B R Sharan Kumar @Reddysharan]

How Delhi Race Club Was Allowed to Perish

The Delhi Race Club stands on the brink of losing its historic home, but the tragedy goes far beyond an eviction order. An institution that had decades to secure its future now faces extinction amid allegations of poor governance, mounting Government dues and a failure to act with urgency. More disturbingly, a democratic process that should have provided accountability appears to have become a mechanism for perpetuating control.

By Sharan Kumar

The Delhi Race Club has finally reached the point that many feared but few believed would actually come: the Government has ordered the club to vacate its 53.242-acre premises, bringing one of India's historic racing institutions to the brink of extinction.

But the most disturbing part of this story is not the eviction order of August 11. It is how an institution with decades to prepare for this moment was allowed to drift towards the precipice.

The Delhi Race Club did not suddenly discover that its lease had expired. The last sanctioned extension ended on December 31, 1994. For more than three decades, the club knew that its occupation of Government land rested on an unresolved legal and administrative issue.

There was time to negotiate. There was time to settle outstanding dues. There was time to build a compelling case for renewal. There was time to seek political and administrative support. Above all, there was time to put the institution's future above internal politics.

Yet the club appears to have squandered that time.

The latest proceedings before the Estate Officer are particularly revealing. After the show-cause notice was issued on April 17 this year, the club was given repeated opportunities to place its defence on record. Hearings followed on June 4, June 29, July 10, July 24 and August 7.

According to the Estate Officer's order, the club repeatedly sought time to file its reply and evidence, but ultimately failed to place any substantive response on record. The Government's case therefore remained unrebutted before the Estate Officer.

That is an extraordinary situation for an institution fighting for its very existence.

But it also raises a much larger question: How did the Delhi Race Club's governance allow the institution to reach this stage?

The answer may lie in what happened to the club's democratic process.

Elections are supposed to ensure accountability. They are supposed to allow members to question those in charge, remove those who fail and bring in people with new ideas and greater competence.

But democracy becomes meaningless when elections turn into a mechanism for perpetuating control.

The persistent allegation within the club has been that a particular group was able to retain control through a combination of proxy votes and what effectively became captive voting blocs. If that characterisation is accurate, the consequences go far beyond an internal election dispute.

A club can survive bad decisions.

It can survive an unpopular committee.

It can even survive an occasional incompetent administration.

What it cannot survive is a system in which accountability itself becomes captive.

Once the same group can repeatedly determine who gets elected, elections cease to be a means of changing the management. They become a ritual for confirming it.

And when that happens, uncomfortable questions stop being asked.

Why are Government dues still pending?

Why has the lease issue remained unresolved for so long?

Why were meaningful negotiations not pursued with urgency?

Why was there no comprehensive strategy when the Government moved towards eviction?

Why was the club apparently unable to place a substantive defence before the Estate Officer despite repeated opportunities?

These are not questions about horses, jockeys or racing results. They are questions about institutional leadership.

The Delhi High Court's judgment of May 26 should have been treated as an unmistakable warning. The Division Bench cleared the way for the Estate Officer to proceed with the eviction proceedings after setting aside the earlier interim protection.

The club therefore knew that the matter had entered a critical phase.

Instead of treating it as an existential emergency requiring every available resource, every legal argument and every possible avenue of negotiation, the club appears to have allowed the proceedings to move towards their inevitable conclusion.

The Government's position may still be challenged. The club has legal remedies and can seek a stay against the eviction order. The courts will ultimately determine the legal questions.

But there is another court in which the club's leadership must answer questions: the court of its own members.

For the people who work in racing, the consequences are enormous.

Owners, trainers, jockeys, stable employees, vendors and hundreds of others connected with racing have no control over the club's internal electoral arithmetic. Yet they could pay the price for decades of institutional complacency.

The Delhi Race Club was not merely a piece of Government land occupied by a private company. It was a sporting institution with a history stretching back a century.

Institutions do not usually die because of one order.

They die when leadership repeatedly fails to confront reality.

They die when elections become a sham.

They die when loyalty to a group becomes more important than loyalty to the institution.

They die when those controlling the present become incapable of planning for the future.

The eviction order may therefore be remembered as the moment the Delhi Race Club lost its premises.

But history may judge that the club began losing itself much earlier.

The Government may have delivered the final blow. But the real tragedy is that the institution appears to have been allowed to perish from within.

[B R Sharan Kumar @Reddysharan]

Tundering On Gives Shapoor, a Moment to Cherish

For Indian racing enthusiasts, Friday's Betfred Oaks at Epsom turned into a day of immense pride as India’s prominent owner-breeder Shapoor Mistry celebrated a memorable victory when his filly Thundering On stormed home to capture one of Britain’s most prestigious Classics.

The success carried special significance. While Indian owners enjoyed success in English Classics decades ago, such triumphs have become increasingly rare over the last four decades. Though several India-based owners have maintained racing interests in Ireland, England and France, victories at the highest level have largely proved elusive. Thundering On’s emphatic Oaks triumph therefore ranks among the most important international achievements by an Indian owner in recent years.

Mistry, whose famed Manjri Stud Farm has produced several top-class performers and classic winners in India, including winners of the Indian Derby, was present at Epsom to lead in the winner. Incidentally, Thundering On is the only fool of owner Shapoor Mistry’s Group I winner Thundering Nights. Thundering On was an impressive winner of Salabil Stakes over a mile and a quarter trip and hence carried great deal of hope in the race.

Also among the sizeable Indian contingent at the racecourse was Cyrus Poonawalla, underlining the growing interest of Indian owners in international racing.

Trained by Joseph O'Brien and ridden with supreme confidence by Irish champion jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle, Thundering On produced a breathtaking last-to-first performance. Settled at the rear of the field in the early stages, the daughter of Frankel travelled smoothly throughout before unleashing a devastating burst of acceleration in the home straight.

As rivals came under pressure on Epsom’s demanding uphill finish, McMonagle remained motionless in the saddle. Approaching the furlong marker, Thundering On swept effortlessly alongside the leaders and, once asked for her effort, surged clear to score by an authoritative three and three-quarter lengths from Legacy Link.

O’Brien revealed that patience had always been the plan.

“We were happy to ride her patiently and conserve as much energy as possible on the climb. She came alive in the straight and won very impressively,” said O’Brien. “Winning races like this is a dream and it is wonderful to share it with everyone. She has several options ahead, including the Irish Oaks, but today we will simply enjoy the moment.”

For the 23-year-old McMonagle, the victory provided a first British Classic success

“It was effortless from start to finish,” he said. “She did everything we wanted and sprinted away from them. She is exceptionally talented and keeps improving with every run. I always felt I had everything covered in front of me and once I asked her, she quickened like a very special filly.”

For Indian racing, the result was more than just another international victory. It was a reminder that Indian owners can compete and succeed on the grandest stages of world racing. On a famous afternoon at Epsom, Thundering On did not merely win an Oaks. She carried Indian racing aspirations with her and returned with one of the sport’s most coveted prizes.

[Mysore Race Club @MysoreRaceClub]

“Eyes on the track, heart in the race”
“Countdown to the start!”

[Selfless Cricket @SelflessCricket]

Thank you Hardik Pandya. You finally made the world realize how good captain Rohit Sharma was.

[B R Sharan Kumar @Reddysharan]

Marketing by Invisibility, Success by Tradition

By Sharan Kumar

The Indian Derby and the Poonawalla Multi Million were, by every visible measure, grand successes. The stands were packed, the lawns were buzzing, and the turnstiles did not complain. Tradition did its bit. Sponsors did more than their bit. The public turned up in their finery, their optimism, and in some cases, their borrowed hats.

And then there was the marketing committee. Somewhere. Presumably.

If there is indeed a marketing committee, it has perfected the art of invisible excellence. Not a press note. Not a season preview. Not even a courteous email saying, “Good morning, racing exists.” As a leading racing website, we were spared the inconvenience of official communication. Silence, after all, is a strategy. An unusual one for marketing, but innovation must be encouraged.

Let us be clear. The Derby does not require CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) from any committee. It survives on legacy. It thrives on nostalgia. Its glamour was chiselled into marble years ago, particularly during the era when the self-styled King of Good Times, Vijay Mallya, turned it into a cultural carnival. He did not merely promote the Derby. He staged it. He curated it. He ensured that even those who could not read a racecard knew something fabulous was happening at Mahalaxmi.

The Poonawalla Multi Million, similarly, did not lean on committee brilliance. The Poonawalla brothers ensured patronage through direct, tangible outreach. Free entry for women. Rs 200 vouchers handed out like confetti with fiscal discipline. Personal involvement. Actual incentives. Imagine that. Marketing with visible fingerprints.

Meanwhile, the official machinery seems to operate on a principle best described as “organic publicity.” Whatever coverage emerged did so heroically, despite the absence of coordination. Media houses reported because they always have. The narrative did not expand. It did not deepen. It simply repeated itself, dutifully, like an annual ritual.

One is given to understand that somewhere in the administrative maze there exists a marketing department. Possibly even a marketing person. Industrious, we are told. Though their industry has yet to leave the faintest footprint in the public domain. Our inbox remains as barren as a summer paddock. No seasonal briefings. No structured outreach. No attempt to cultivate curiosity among younger audiences who now spend their Sundays binge-watching streaming platforms rather than watching horses thunder down the straight.

And then there is the broadcast itself, which appears determined to remain a relic from a less ambitious century. The video coverage is hazy, the webcast arrives fashionably late thanks to an obliging time lag, and buffering intrudes with the regularity of an unwanted steward’s inquiry. To complete the spectacle, the audio and video rarely travel together. The commentator declares a horse sweeping past the leader while the screen, still catching its breath, shows the field turning into the straight.

In an age where even a teenager with a phone can stream in crisp clarity, racing continues to present a broadcast that feels trapped in technological purgatory. The sport thrives on speed and drama. Sadly, its digital window to the world moves at a far more leisurely pace.

Attendance? It was healthy. As it has been on Derby day for decades. But growth? A surge? A measurable expansion of the audience base? That would require outreach beyond hope and habit.

Even the media experience remains charmingly antiquated. No defined stand. No dedicated viewing facility. We are honoured guests who must fend for ourselves with binoculars and balance. Yet the club dutifully hosts a media day, sponsors cups in the names of publications, and continues a tradition that has been in place since typewriters were cutting edge technology. Ritual sustained. Evolution pending.

Indian racing today faces a demographic dilemma. The younger audience is elusive. Engagement requires imagination, consistency, and communication. None of which are naturally produced by silence.

The Derby and the Multi Million succeeded because history carried one and sponsors carried the other. The committee, if present, contributed the rarest commodity of all in modern sport promotion: disciplined absence.

In fairness, invisibility is difficult to execute consistently. And on that front, the performance has been flawless.

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@Reddysharan Horse racing deserves far more recognition. The skill, discipline, and effort behind it are immense. Hope it finally gets the support it truly deserves.

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@Surajsn1 Congratulations 👏

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@dhruv_rathee You are the fraud.. taking money to spread fake propaganda

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@abhijitmajumder Assholes should be tortured first for days before killing

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@itsmeSehrish Don’t worry soon we will be celebrating and you or your terror nation wont exist when we do 🤭🤣 for now keep celebrating your imaginary victory while your nation has become a National joke 🤣🤣

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@Dawar_Rao Again keep celebrating in your delusional world, while we bust you with facts and evidence.. we as a nation are much more diverse and powerful than you.. there is no comparison , you can never compete with us! We celebrate victory against a TERROR NATION !!

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@lucky01_soni 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@OsamaSultanPK24 @ANI Keep living in your delusional world, while we celebrate real victory against a TERROR NATION

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@_midwicket Indian defence just used 5% of their actual capabilities, be thankful otherwise you wouldn’t be able to tweet today lol 🤭🤣

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@Ameeq_Rao Lol you Pakistanis are living in a fantasy world created by your PM and pak army 🤣

[Gems_of_Bharat @Gemsof_Bharat]

Let her cook!!!

[Saniya K @SaniyaKalraa]

@DrSJaishankar Hello???