From 18 horses,Hasan Ali Khan is left with 4 running their last races

Incidentally,all the four had run at the Mumbai race on Saturday giving ‘satisfactory performances’ according to their trainer. One of them,Houdini,which Khan owns in 50-50 partnership with wife Rheema,won the race on February 20 at Mahalaxmi Race Course,Mumbai.

“He now has only four horses,all registered with the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC). They are Lago Medio,Hammerhead,Bonny Light and Houdini and have been taking part in races in Mumbai and Pune. All four ran on Saturday at the Mahalaxmi Race Course,” said Pradyumna Singh of RWITC. Khan owns the horses in partnership with other members and while he owns 25 per cent share for Bonny Light and Lago Medio,Hammerhead is owned at a 50 per cent share. Houdini is co-owned by his wife.

Monthly maintenance of a horse is in the range of Rs 30-35,000 while annual costs reach Rs 3.5 lakh. “The game is such that for the owner to profit,his horse has to win at least twice a year,” said Dr Ravi Reddy,veterinary doctor.

By that standards,Ali’s horses have been doing well as Hammerhead won four of the 23 races it ran over the past two seasons. According to data on RWITC website,Houdini won on February 20. Lago Medio,once a winning horse that won seven out of 25 races it ran between 2006 and 2009,has been giving an average performance of late and finished 18th in the recent race on February 6 in Mumbai. Bonny Light has won seven races over the past five years.

“Khan had a range of about 18 horses earlier being trained by different trainers. Horses have short life and these four are at the fag end of their career. We expect them to run for one or two seasons more before they are sent to a shelter. I would not call them great,but they have been giving fairly satisfactory performances in recent races winning their share,” said Faizal Abbas,horse trainer and Ali’s brother-in-law who has been training the four horses over the past five years.

Khan,who attended the last season in October 2010,is known to attend races on and off. According to Abbas and Ravi,he did not attend the race on Saturday. All the horses other than Houdini are running even on Sunday. Abbas tags the horses as Ali’s loyal soldiers running for him relentlessly despite what is happening in his personal life.

He is alleged to have tax arrears of Rs 40,000 crore and the Supreme Court had on Friday asked the government why no progress has been made in the tax evasion case. The ED has issued a notice in his name.