The Bangalore Turf Club headed by Harimohan Naidu along with the de facto decision maker, A C Satish Chandra has proved to be a big embarrassment. They call the shots while the other committee members are either faceless or voiceless. Their attempt to exploit the sponsor of the Derby to host a SunDowner party for the members to gain their goodwill at somebody else`s expense has backfired on them.

The Bangalore Winter Derby is being sponsored for the last two years by Catalyst Properties Pvt Ltd whose principal functionary is also contesting for BTC membership this year. The committee thought they could officially endorse his candidature by inviting members for the SunDowner party at the conclusion of the winter season on Saturday and earn some goodwill from the members by giving them a party with ``free`` drinks. Elections to 10 vacancies of members are scheduled to be held on Monday.

The BTC committee forgot that they should provide a level playing field to all the contestants and their decision to have a party at the expense of the sponsor came in for flak from some members who also expressed their strong resentment to the breach of election code of conduct. The turf club mandarins beat a hasty retreat when the issues of ethics were raised and quickly announced that the cocktails will now be sponsored by the club itself and not by the sponsor. This decision also came in for flak from some well-meaning members who believe that when the club is facing a serious financial crunch, the club could not be spending money on these extravagances especially since they have been taxing the public on every count to raise more money for its activities. Also, the club never hosted parties for members at the conclusion of each season. Long back, there was the practice of hosting a party at the conclusion of the season and the invitees were the jockeys, trainers, racehorse owners and other stakeholders. The reason was to thank them for their cooperation in the successful conduct of the season. The stakeholders now have been completely forgotten.

Sometime back, the club had denied permission to a contestant to present the Leading Stud Farm Trophy when the Kunigal Stud Farm Manager Dr Dinesh was contesting for elections stating that it would give undue publicity and advantage to the candidate!

Vinod Shivappa, one of the senior members of the BTC wrote to Chairman Harimohan Naidu expressing surprise that the party called SunDowner was being sponsored by a candidate contesting for the membership of the club. He said: ``I have received an invitation referred to the captioned subject inviting the members and their guests for cocktails as part of the SunDowner to celebrate the successful completion of the Bangalore Winter Meeting. At the outset, on observing the invite I am surprised to note that the cocktails are being sponsored by one of the candidates in the ensuing members` election scheduled for Monday, March 25. To the best of my memory, this is the first time that I have seen an invitation under the banner of the BTC inviting members for an event sponsored by one of the candidates aspiring to become a member of the club even after the issue of the date for notification of election i.e. when the code of conduct is in force. As you are all aware, it is the bounden duty of each one of you to ensure that all candidates contesting for either the club or stand membership are assured of a level playing field. By this very act, you have attempted to endorse one of the candidates and promote his cause which is unfair to other contestants and this is totally unethical in my view.``

The club chairman Harimohan Naidu gave a timid reply to the letter from Vinod Shivappa. He said: ``At the time of negotiating with M/S Catalyst Properties Pvt Ltd towards the sponsorship of Bangalore Winter Derby, the club had also got the company to agree to sponsor the Derby day dinner and another one at the end of the winter racing meeting. In view of the reservations expressed, the club will be hosting the cocktails instead of the sponsor.`` The letter also adds: ``Your observation of the use of the word ``free` `as against the word complimentary is noted! The drinks, however, continue to be free but at the club`s expense.

Some BTC members have been classified as Free-Dom Fighters by the racing public. In BTC, the words Freedom Fighter has been re-defined as somebody who is fighting for everything that is free! Quite a few members of the club top the list of freedom fighters! And the BTC committee seems to believe that it needs to keep the Freedom Fighters in good books by hosting parties by hook or crook in order to ensure their permanency in their positions albeit at somebody else`s expense. People who exploit others come to spend an enormous amount of energy wondering about and justifying that exploitation. Unfortunately, the present BTC Managing Committee has a sleepy conscience and nothing seems to trouble or embarrass them.