That, alas, is the state of horse racing in India today.In the present buyers' market, aqcquiring a noble steed is only too easy -- one merely has to wave a catalogue at an auction sale, sign on the dotted line, and pay for the new acquisition. What's more, with a new, young horse, there is always the hope that it will perform on the track. Just like the hope the investor has when putting in his or her hard-earned money into an Initial Public Offering.

It's what happens after the passage of time that distinguishes shares from horses. When the time comes for liquidating one's equine purchase, it is accompanied by the realization that there is virtually no liquidity.For there is no easy way to sell an average older horse in India. No credible auction sale to dispose off your surplus beast, who is eating you out for a couple of hundred rupees every day.

Certainly, some private sales take place. An owner in Calcutta might replenish his string with a cast-off from Mahalakshmi, reckoning that the difference in the standard of racing provides a quick opportunity for a return. Arbitrage of a sort! Alas, the enormous distances between racing centres in India make transport a nightmare, and the delays in completing deals burn further holes into pockets. Also, the matter of locating a buyer is often left to the trainer of the horse, who -- to be fair -- has little incentive to get rid of what is after all a meal ticket for him.

For the bulk of horses that are not good enough to continue to pay their way, the only exit route is to give them away! Certainly, there are good homes (riding schools, gymkhanas, even agricultual farms) available for retired race-horses, particularlythe male variety. Some 85% of the females find a new career as broodmares on stud farms, generally changing hands accompanied by an obligation to return a part of the produce to the original owner.

Enter the phenomenon of claiming races. Pioneered in the U.S.A., these races constitute the bulk of the programmes there. Although they were developed to enable racing administrations to classify horses of varying merit, they have proved to be valuable aids in improving the strength of the horse economy by providing liquidity.

"Claiming races were originated for the purpose of classification of horses. If an owner or gtrainer raced a superior horse in a claiming race against the horses of his fellow owners and trainers, it follows that his horse would be claimed" said E.S. Montgomery in The Thoroughbred. Likewise, if a vastly inferior horse was run it would be a futile and wasted effort. Ultimately, water would find its own level.

Claiming races are actually an objective system of self-handicapping horsesbased on their perceived value. The method operates as follows:

A race is framed over says 1400 metres for five-year-olds and over. The intention is to attract horses equivalent to present-day Class IV. The prize money offered is, say, Rs 50,000 to the winner. Now, the present day market value of Class SIV five-year-olds and over with little or no stud value would be in the range of Rs.80,000 to Rs 1,25,000 depending on the current form and degree of war and tear.

The proposed claiming race coud be framed with a top claiming (selling) price of Rs 1,20,000 for a horse carrying 60.0 kg. (males) or 58.5 kg (females). For each Rs 5,000 voluntary reduction in claiming price, the horse would be entitled to carry 1 kg. less, down to Rs 60,000 at 48.0 kg.

Thus owners and trainers could decide themselves as to which particular weight/price combination suited them. Should an owner run a horse too good for the weight, it would certainly be taken away from him by an astute rival (Note: all horses running inclaiming races risk being "claimed" or compulsorily sold). Should an owner be in need of liquidity, he could let the horse run at a progressively lower and lower price until someone perceived it to be at or below its true value and claim it.

In this manner, one could get in and out of horses almost at will. The boost to horse ownership and bloodstock breeding would be tremendous. Are our race clubs ready?