'Everyone Is Losing': India's Leading Jockey Suraj Narredu Says GST, Govt Apathy Killing Horse Racing

While the sports scene in India continues to improve, the scenario for horse racing is not so bright. The financials of the sport are in a mess, the number of race courses keep coming down and the situation currently looks bleak. Suraj Narredu, one of India's most accomplished jockeys, believes the situation is dire and it has become worse in the last seven years due to the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The sport is hit by high GST rates and Narredu wants the government to help him in the task of reviving the sport. Narredu, who has 2500-plus career wins, four Indian Derby titles and is set to become the first Indian to lead Team Asia in the upcoming Shergar Cup, has become a leading voice of reform in the sport.

In an exclusive interaction with Outlook, Narredu opened up on the issues grappling horse racing and the tough future ahead if things do not change. Excerpts below:

What's the history of horse racing in India and where does it stand currently?

Horse racing has been been there for centuries now. It started in India maybe 150 years ago, introduced by the Britishers when they were here. If I'm not wrong, we almost had about 30-plus racecourses all over India at one point. Today, sadly, we have only seven left.

The government is putting a lot of pressure on major metropolitan cities which conduct racing to move out of the city, or have not been very supportive. And we are trying our best to get back the glory of horse racing in India.

Why is the government trying to push it away from the big cities?

Most of the race courses in India, say the ones in Chennai, Bengaluru, Bombay or Pune, are in the heart of the city. Today they are prime properties, and the authorities want us to leave that part of the land for them to develop into whatever they want to do. This despite the fact that it has been a lung space for everybody; the entire area is totally open with a lot of greenery. It's a beautiful place for people to visit for their morning walks or evening exercise.

Further, GST has taken a heavy toll on racing and the 28% tax has slowly started to kill the sport.

You talked about GST and government apathy. Are these recent phenomena or has it been happening gradually?

It has been happening over the last seven years. I think our golden period was five years before GST was introduced. The prize money was going up, the quality and number of horses, the opportunities everybody was getting, everything was going up.

And that one thing (GST) was followed by another disastrous thing that happened to us, that is COVID. A lot of stud farms shut down because of the impact.

The number of horses produced at one point of time would be between 1500 and 1700. Today, there are only about 700 to 800 horses produced. So the number of horses going into each centre is lower. It's taken a toll on everybody in some way or the other.

Can you elaborate on GST's effect? How is it hurting the sport?

The entire ecosystem, including the owners, punters, jockeys, trainers, grooms (people who look after the horses) is affected. When a legacy sport like ours is taxed at the same rate as luxury or sin goods, it sends the wrong message. Horse racing is just not entertainment, it's heritage, employment and an international sport. Thousands of workers' livelihoods depend on racing. So if racing is hit, there is a cascading effect, right up to where the horses are bred.

For our horses to feed, we depend largely on lucerne, which is grown in farms that give employment to a lot of people. Indirectly, at least one lakh people are dependent on racing. We can recognise its contribution to the economy, rural employment and global representation, just by lowering the GST. It is going to support reforms which will help the sport thrive again and preserve a legacy that has been part of India for generations.

So we are pleading to the government to reduce the GST burden on racing, because it's a skill-based sport and not typically a gambling sport.

What steps have been taken to address this?

Well, the administration has been talking to the state and central governments. They are the primary people who will have to deal with it.

Is there a national body?

Yes, there is something called the Turf Authorities of India, which is all the clubs put together in India. It has a representative from each club and these people, assigned different roles, have to go and sort this out.

You were saying that you have sent pleas to state and Centre. So where is that currently?

Well, it's hanging in between somewhere, we don't know. And then there are court cases that are happening and we are living on thin edge.

You said horse racing is a game of skill, but widely perceived as a gambling sport. For gaming apps like Dream 11, the same 'game of skill versus luck' debate is on. Where does the matter stand for your sport, legally?

Horse racing has a Supreme Court ruling saying that it is a game of skill. The decision came out in the year 1996.

While cricket is the biggest sport in our country, there are apps functioning, advertised legally, and people are betting on them. Whereas horse racing, although there is an SC ruling that it cannot be termed as only luck-based, still has a certain public perception.

And that is what we are largely trying to change. There is gambling, of course, in horse racing, but it's not the be-all and end-all of the sport.

What's needed to pull things back on track for the sport?

The first thing is education: people realising or getting some sort of knowledge about horse racing in general through professionals or the administrators, and getting them into the sport to just enjoy it. Start off from there, educate people so that they don't think, 'Oh no, I'm not going to allow my children to enter the horse race because it's a bad place.' It is not a bad place.

It is one of the most beautiful places to go to if you enjoy the sport. But the stigma attached to it is what the fear is all about. And that is what we are trying to change. If the government helps and the administrators market it like a proper sport, we'll definitely get people to come into the game and enjoy racing.

You know, like it is abroad. It's a day out at picnic. On any big race day, your family gets together. They pick up their carpet or their sheets. They bring food and drinks, go lay down, enjoy the sun. You have about seven, eight races on the day. Kids are playing over there. They're having a lot of fun too.

You just go there to chill, have fun and come back. You don't really need to put out money over there to enjoy the sport.

We can perhaps glamourise the horses and the sport or the professionals. If you have a race between two top horses, and advertise it enough on social media, people will develop interest to come and see what are these two horses that everyone is talking about. We need to create that curiosity. All these things will happen over a period of time, but people have to start taking it into that direction.

How do you look at the future of the sport in India, considering the current scenario?

One good thing that has happened is that people have teamed up. Everyone is working towards seeing that horse racing sustains and it gets to a better level.

People have started re-investing in horses. The ones who had left the game in between have come back. The breeders who had slackened their operation are getting better-quality horses back into the game.

There is some sort of hope, although dwindling. It is a dying sport in India, but everyone is in the hope that things will be back to normal again. It can work. It's just that we need government support, and a little bit of luck. If that happens, we will be back on track.

Having said that, I'm not saying that we don't have good racing anymore. We still have fantastic racing. We have come back to a certain level after COVID and it would only get better once the GST is slashed, because it's a huge turnover that goes into the pool.

The racing administration is trying to tell the government that the further they reduce the GST, the better is the tax given to the government. Whereas a higher GST is not giving higher tax to them.

So if the tax rate is lowered, then the overall revenue will grow automatically?

Everything will go back (to the government), yes. See, we used to pay a lot more in taxes back in the day when we charged lesser. So where is that money going? Nowhere. The clubs are not benefiting, (it is) not going to the government. It is just dwindling in between. Everyone is losing.

Where is the sport in terms of using social media to reach out to people?

Clubs have started using social media now, but it still needs to be elevated. They need to invest a huge sum of money in marketing and get the right people to educate the public on social media or other platforms.

Currently they just advertise the big races, or let people know if there's a derby coming up, say, day after tomorrow. People are getting to know there's a derby this week just 48 hours in advance. The same thing could start 15 days prior. Let people know that this is a big race. Let them make plans to attend.

Today, sports like kabaddi and kho kho are being marketed so well. You've got the crowds, big companies involved in the games. Horse racing is far away. I'm not comparing, I'm just saying it's an interesting sport. Anything to do with speed or racing is always going to get people's attention.

When you're dealing with animals, it's beautiful. Even though the race is probably two minutes or less than that, the thrill and excitement of that two minutes is something else. But the clubs have to up their game. We need to get younger people into the game to understand today's marketing needs.

Do you see leagues coming up?

Yes, there was some sort of spark generated that we could have league racing. But I think that has stagnated for now. I don't know how it will work, but it'll be something great for the sport as we need to come up with new ideas to generate interest.

It has not happened globally yet, but they have already started the process outside India and are looking at starting it like one race in each country or continent, something like a 10-race event once a month sort of thing. It is going to develop a lot of interest, I feel.

In India, we need to stand on our feet to get back to our racing and simultaneously work towards something like a league, at least a few years down the line. We need to start planning.

Shergar Cup is also sort of a league, because there are four teams and three jockeys in each team. And it's based on a points system. I have never met some of these jockeys in my life. So it's a great platform to have the world's top talent on one particular race day. International jockey challenges generate a lot of curiosity, a lot of interest.

And it's great bonding between the countries. For us Indians, if we get a chance to showcase our skills on this sort of a global platform, it's fantastic for the sport and all the professionals in the country. And for a sport that is not recognised as much, it's going to be a great boost.

How is the sport internationally?

A lot of places are thriving, but many have been struggling as well. Australia is flourishing; they have about 180 race courses all over their country and there's racing happening somewhere or the other every day, at least in five centres at any given point. Hong Kong is one of the best jurisdictions in the world in horse racing. They get the best horses, best jockeys to ride. The prize money is superb. Japan, too is fabulous.

The sad part is that some top places like Singapore shut down last year, with the primary reason being that casinos opened up there and it took away a lot of owners and the people who were invested in gambling. When they moved towards the casinos, it took a toll on the clubs and the clubs had to eventually shut down.