Racing at Chennai may get a new direction thanks to the winds of change that seems to be blowing. And the man who has taken the lead to bring about the change is none other than M A M R Muthaiah who will be contesting for committee membership along with three of his nominees in the elections scheduled for September.

``I always had interest in racing but since my dad Dr M A M Ramaswamy was a hands-on person with a deep passion for racing, I chose to remain in the background. I am contesting with three nominees of mine this year. I hope to get the support of others as well in order to bring about a sea change. I was a committee member of the Madras Race Club in the past but you cannot bring about change unless you are in a position of power to do so. I have a vision for racing. I want to restore racing in Chennai to its pristine days and bring it on par with racing at Mumbai and Bangalore. I want to democratise racing and make it acceptable to everyone. There is no dearth of resources. Chennai has the best infrastructure. There is a tradition of racing which has been built over a period of 100 years. There is tremendous following for racing. It needs to be re-energised. I am pretty confident that I am capable of providing the desired leadership to achieve the goals,`` said M A M R Muthaiah in a chat with this writer while explaining his decision to contest this year`s election.

The Madras Race Club enjoyed the distinction of conducting what was possibly the most competitive racing in South India. Madras Race Club was originally called the South India Turf Club as the institution also controlled racing in entire South before Bangalore and Hyderabad emerged as separate racing authorities. Racing was well patronised, with big support base of ownership. The South India Derby was one of the biggest attractions of racing in the country.

The conflict with the government saw racing being temporarily halted. Racing resumed at Chennai after the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict that racing was a game of skill.
Unfortunately, racing was never the same in its second innings. Gradually, the domination of one man resulted in most owners deserting racing at Chennai. Racing ceased to be competitive. Chennai lost its importance as a racing centre in India with Bangalore becoming the best in South India. Hyderabad Race Club too established itself in a big way. People also stopped coming to racing at Chennai. The crowd that thronged the race course was not there to watch live racing but to attend off-course betting on other centres.

The passing away of Dr M A M Ramaswamy and the fact that the Charitable Trust that was entrusted to continue his legacy downsized its strength saw greater spread of horses belonging to other owners. There is much that needs to be done to restore racing to its old glory and the club requires the dynamism of a young person like M A M R Muthaiah who has shown acumen through the success that he has obtained for the companies under his control. The present committee conducted the Indian Turf Invitation Cup weekend races but nothing much has happened thereafter.

Most of the people at the helm are used to the old setup and hence may prefer status quo. Infusion of fresh blood is inevitable to bring about progress. People who command respect and capable of leading from the front are the need of the hour. For the last two decades or so there was no election to the committee and mostly nominees of one person were elected/nominated to the committee. Perhaps for the first time, a majority of the members of the club get an opportunity to exercise their franchise and one hopes they make the best of it to bring to power the committee that works.

Dr Ramaswamy had made an emotional appeal while receiving one of the Invitation Cup trophies at Bangalore asking the leading lights of racing to persuade his son M A M R Muthaiah to continue his legacy and take a greater interest in racing. ``I had kept away because my philosophy about the way the sport should be conducted did not match that of my father,`` M A M R Muthaiah said.

Muthaiah has promised to bring freshness into the scheme of things. ``What we need is corporate governance of the sport. There is a need for transparency in everything. We need put in place a fine administrative set up which takes efficient care of the sport and also promote it in a big way. Professionalism is the need of the hour and given my background in corporate administration, I am confident of giving the desired leadership in pursuit of the goals that I have set out for the club,`` he added.

Muthaiah has hosted a few parties in order to meet the members of the club personally to explain his position and this approach has surely endeared him to a lot of people. The support seems to be forthcoming and the September results will show whether they have translated into sizeable votes to give Muthaiah the reins of the club.

The secret of change is not to focus your energy on fighting the old but on building the new. Change is inevitable to set the motions of progress and for this, we need a change of mind. For this we need people like Muthaiah to be at the helm.