'I might not be going back'
- David Allan expresses fears for racing in India
David Allan: the most successful foreign jockey in India's racing
history
Martin Lynch
1 of 1
By Andrew
DietzUPDATED 10:00AM, AUG 3 2020
David Allan, the most successful foreign jockey in
India's racing history, fears his days riding in the country may be over
as the sport struggles to find a way out of the Covid-19 shutdown.
While racing has resumed in many countries,
the nine racecourses in India have not been able to reopen even behind closed
doors, leaving the already fragile industry in further peril.
Racing in India was plunged into crisis before the
pandemic due to the imposition of a new Goods and Services Tax by the
government.
Betting on racing was one of the sectors forced to
pay 28 per cent, representing a massive hike for organisations like the Mysore
Race Club and Bangalore Turf Club.
"It's not looking good and it doesn't look
like I'll be going back," said Allan.
"I've been keeping on top of it and some of
the tracks are trying to get going again, but I can't see where the funding is
going to come from.
"There are no betting shops, like we have
here, and they're trying to get racing online, but the government doesn't seem
particularly keen and hasn't passed anything through."
Allan, who returned from his 11th winter spell in
India earlier this year, surpassed former champion apprentice Sandy Barclay as
the most successful foreign rider in the country two years ago.
He has landed the Indian Derby – a race also
won by the likes of Richard Hughes, Mick Kinane and Walter Swinburn – three
times including in successive years in 2016 and 2017.
Plans for a return of racing later this month have
been drafted, but the financial state of a sport reliant on vibrant
on-course betting remains uncertain.
Tegbir Brar, a leading owner-breeder in Punjab,
said: "We weren't in good shape before the coronavirus and everything
we've done wrong for the past 30-40 years has come to a head.
"I'm sure racing will start again, we're just
waiting for the government to give it the go-ahead. When it does I just hope we
can get permission to go online as that would be a big thing for the
industry."
On the far-reaching
implications of the Indian racing crisis, Brar added: "The sales in
Britain and the US are popular with breeders in India, but given the current
climate I don't see people coming out and spending money this year."