Magical Mallesh Narredu

On Left, Mallesh Narredu winning on wonder filly 'Set Alight'.

As the Mumbai season began, one notable absence was that of Mallesh Narredu, absurd thing is that public in general think that foreign jockeys are far ahead and our jockeys are inferior. Nothing can be further than the truth, Mallesh is the best in business and if he is on a decent horse he can win on any track of this planet.

Amongst all racing Jockey icons, I have seen Aslam Kader, Pesi & Mallesh being idolized and even booed when they return after winning or losing on a favorite, the crowd mentality is such that they gloat when they win and take out their ire when they lose, Aslam had a very deft style of handling his mounts, he was assured and had such powerful forearms that he could urge a horse only with loosening his grip. Pesi was always a darling of the Mahalaxmi crowds, he rode strongly, only Bajrang Singh in his hey days matched the strenght Pesi lent to the saddle, but even Pesi was given choicest of swear words when he lost on 40/100 favorites like white lightening, but Pesi had a very endearing quality, he usually looked towards the crowds in the first enclousure when he was sure of winning and crowds took it as a signal and went and backed his horse as much as they could, and they profited. Mallesh is a combination of the two Icons, deft handler and strong rider.

Mallesh and his family have grown with racing in India, trainers & jockeys and they all are doing well, disparaging remarks about Mallesh are uncalled for. I remember two incidents, one was of 'happy diamonds' in 1991 this filly top weight in class three opened at odds on choice and rose up to 3-1 in the ring, if there ever was a negative horse according to trends, then 'happy diamonds' had lost the race in the ring itself. The punters who had backed the filly at short odds were disparaging about Mallesh in their remarks and crowds were venting their ire even as the stalling was in progress.

What happened? 'Happy Diamonds' jumped out well (Most in the crowds had predicted it would be left standing in the gates) Then 'happy Diamonds' broke away from the field, and hit the front in a 1400 MT race, and in the home stretch when Mallesh saw other horses coming up, he just nudged the filly deftly, and she galloped away, a light crack of the whip and she passed winning post distance ahead. For once he was greeted with deathly silence and muted admiration by all those who couple of minutes before were swearing at him. After the horse was led in, as Mallesh dismounted, few heard him say, this filly will win on a trot till top weight in class I, needless to say it 'happened'.

In 1992 mallesh was given a mount by a small time trainer on a ageing and injured horse who was the best sprinter not so long ago in western India, the horse was "Wanderlust, this horse was carrying top weight of 63.5 KG's in class I , 'Wanderlust was suffering with joint and shin problems, however Mallesh who had worked the horse promised, he will win, and what a race it ran, it's etched in my memory forever, 'Wanderlust led from the start, at the business end of the race it was a cavalry charge, all horses from left right and centre were getting ahead of the 'Wanderlust', and then Mallesh displayed some fine strong ridership, he extracted every bit of strenght from a horse, about whom all & sundry had predicted that would never win again, but Wanderlust won by 1/2 a length,that was the last win of 'Wanderlust', but also his best, and at most lucrative odds of his career, no doubt the horse had a great heart, but had immense pain in his legs and only Mallesh was responsible for riding it to an improbable victory, I don't know yet how he made a broken down horse win, that too as top weight in class I, if their is something like ridership, that was it and on display for all to see, and even today we come accross many wonderful displays of jockeyship of Mallesh.

Mallesh a youngster then has gone from strenght to strenght, I know a old gentleman, a race course regular, who plays nothing but Mallesh Narredu's mounts, he has established a good busines with his earnings, Mallesh on longer odds means this gentleman increases his best, and in Pune 2008 he made huge money on 10-1 hidden dragon'. 10-1 'Mountain King' and 10-1 'Aggasiz'. Today Mallesh has transformed into a brand, he is the best, and his contribution to racing is no less than any other racing icon in India,.

In races you win some and lose some, even foriegn imports will lose many races at Mahalaxmi this year but then that wouldn't make them bad jockeys? Frankly, Mallesh is our biggest racing Icon and we must respect him, it's he who is a crowd puller and he & his family are doing an yeoman's service to Indian racing. Such a sad thing, not a single Jockey so far has won a Padma award, i hope Mallesh is the first.

THUNDER OF HOOVES AGAIN AT MAHALAXMI

Its been a long wait, like all avid race goers I hope that it was worth waiting for. Mahalaxmi racecourse will be abuzz again, the tracks will be set ablaze by the choicest thoroughbreds of the country, premier events due to curtailed season will be in quick succession, keeping interest in the young horses optimum.

As I said I hope it was worth waiting for, because two major fires have affected infrastructure, recent visits show not satisfactory progress has been made, but then we avid race goers have been adjusting with insensitive authorities who haven't achieved much for the comfort of a race goers and in turn there is a loss in numbers of the patrons and glamor of the racing at Mahalaxmi.

I just can't help but wonder at the religious race goers who brave the high taxes, lack of comfort, lack of decent viewing TV sets, adjust with hundred year old chairs to cheer our favorite thoroughbreds on turf, this season we will not complain about the facilities, we will not complain about the messy cloakrooms and stinking air near them, nor will we complain about the sorry sandwiches, and ancient snacks which are more repulsive than palatable, we will not complain because Turf club is passing through trying times and we wish them godspeed to solve the issues and then make things better for all of us.

What we will complain about is the standard of racing which had plunged to abysmal depths in Pune. We simply hope that racing is conducted fairly, and no bomb shells like Pune explode on turf taking followers of form to cleaners. I am hoping that while infrastructure is being rebuilt, racing itself will be great and attract punters and patrons back in larger numbers.

Members enclosure is large and current numbers of members are insufficient to fill the place up, the idea of a member signing for the guests is ancient, because at the gates anyone who wishes to get in the members enclosure is admitted after his name is jotted down on any signed form that's available and anyone and everyone who knows this loophole is admitted without questions asked.This entry farce must come to a halt as it definitely is a deterrent to honest guys wanting to be at the race course but it is beyond their status to get into the non member enclosure which is in terrible condition and these guys are not aware of lax rules prevail ing at Mahalaxmi gates.

It will be advisable for the turf club to issue day / weekend passes to enclosure, maybe even season passes to anyone interested and following a certain dress code, it will attract younger patrons who can develop interests other than watching cricket, films or visiting a mall. I am sure turf club can launch promotionals and hand out members enclousure passes to youngsters via campaigns on FM or malls, 50 free season passes or hundred weekend passes, 10 passes for derby could attract new people to the race course, why doesn't anyone do it?

However I am sure with such a curtailed season coming back on tragic accidents at the race course, this year we must excuse the turf club for not bettering the infrastructure but I sincerely hope from next year Mumbai and Mahalaxmi gains it premier position in the country with top class facilities for paying public including AC lounges and Plasma and LCD televisions, and modernized cloakrooms and outlets of class food products and beer/ spirits reasonably priced, unlike gallops and finally and most necessary comfortable seating. In days of red lounges, Turf club has seating of stone age. Let racing become an exclusive entertainment, and regain it's stature as King of sports.

All the infrastructure will be useless if racing continues the way it has been in last part of Mumbai season and all of Pune, there was no consistency in performance and handicapper rendered redundant. Few owners and their connections land three/ four winners, cashing huge CDTQ (i.e Kainchi's or Cross, Double, treble, Quadraple) while punters face the problem of keeping track of too many sleepers who return winners when least expected, especially when their connections fancied horses run behind them.

Mumbai Ring is beset with illegal bookies, some in this profession from quarter century and they have never been picked, funny thing is owners and trainers also bet with them. This is something against the spirit of fair racing. Mumbai ring is a clear indicator of which favorite is out of the race, anyone who bets late, knows what's going to happen. This shows that things are not right, tough action has been taken against some professionals last season, I wonder why repeat offenders are not banned forever, guys like Riyaz Sheikh will be allowed to become trainers in future, is there a code of discipline in place?

All punters are advised caution as the racing begins, I am not sure how fit the horses are and what's their form after the equine flu, the card of 20 race s on the opening weekend will throw up no more than six or seven first favorites, and as the recent history of racing in this part of the world has shown, form and bloodlines matter lesser and lesser.

I expect Pesi Shroff to continue his domination, Buzz is that CD Katrak, Bezan and SS Shah have nice type and forward youngsters, I expect Mansoor Shah to elevate his position further, I expect Altaf Hussein to land a few more successful gambles, I hope Ivor fernandes retires and Vinayak to display on turf all his knowledge and experience, it beats me why he remains on the fringes and not in top five. I expect Rehanullah Khan also to do well this season and hope Narendra Lagad reduces the number of fancied runners from his stable in the races, we never know which horse he is going with, does he?

Mallesh will dominate the saddle, let the guys get as many foriegn imports, Mallesh is the best. I hope Neeraj Rawal gets good mounts and C Ruzaan finds his touch back. From all other jockeys I expect TS Jodha to do well, his ridership in Hyderabad has been excellent so far. We racegoers have high hopes from races at Mahalaxmi this year, I am hoping the average punter has good fun and is not taken to cleaners and lost to the turf club forever, like I know we have lost a few staunch racegoers after Pune season...let the show begin...and let it be successful...Mumbai has to lead the way if racing has to survive in India.

LEGALIZING BETTING IN INDIA

There is carnage on stock exchanges around the world, in Mumbai the Sensex which not so long ago was over 20,000 points has plunged to the depths of 12,000 and predicted to go lower. Common man has lost years of accumulated wealth. Stock exchange in final analysis today is nothing worse than an ordinary gambling den where common man is taken to cleaners by the informed few. It amazes me why people invest into known/ unknown companies, whose decision makers may be having a scotch, priced over rupee thousand a peg in a fifty five thousand luxury Taj suite all on public money and taking a stupid alcoholic decision that will make the investor's rue over their misfortune.

It is therefore not surprising that people are turning to cricket and horse racing betting in a big way. They are safer avenues of making quick money, the people have control of what they are doing, and how much they are risking and are thus not wiped out like they are at stock exchanges. Many shopkeepers have television sets installed and follow, IPL/ICL/ODI'S and Test cricket in any part of the world. People have live access to happenings at the turf clubs all around the nation.

An article in BBC estimated India to be eight highest in volumes of betting in the world. Cricket betting is into billions of Rupees. All a bookmaker needs is a mobile phone and he is in business, the laws are lax enough in India to prove a deterrent to rampant existence of illegal bookmaking in every nook and corner of the nation. We cannot stop them, so the issue is why not legalize betting?

The answer is that this is simply more than a business decision, it a moral decision too. Though we have shaken away most of the socialist tags, this taboo regarding betting remains, in legalizing it a few intelligent 'fear' will drive people to gambling. Quite 'quixotically' they close eyes to millions wagering today. Many Indians advocate legalising the betting system, known as satta, to generate revenue for the government. Volume of money involved in it can make government can earn a lot from cricket betting through entertainment and other taxes if they legalise it like betting on horse-races, this was said by an advisor to the Central Board of Direct Taxes. He however forgot to add the government earnings from horse racing are limited from on course betting, while hundred times over is the turnover in horse racing outside the race course.

BBC article of 2001, link www.news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/1723667.stm spells out the amount involved in an India England series to be to the tune of 400 million Pounds, that's equivalent to roughly 3400 crores Indian rupees. Just Imagine the turnover in India Pakistan or India Australia games or even in The IPL.

Today if we add up, cricket betting volume in India is almost 2.2 lac crores a year, almost 45 billion USD, add to this the unnofficial race betting volume, then betting is already a 52 billion dollar Industry in India.

So perhaps to save a few from being driven to gambling the government is losing 5 t0 8 billion in taxes that could be utilized for public good like the UK National lottery does, the amounts are huge, tax collected from gambling during one year can modernize the whole Indian police and arm them with latest tools. Tax collected from betting can develop infrastructure where it is very necessary and can change the face of the nation.

However I don't perceive government to legalize betting soon, the political parties are into vote bank politics and any party that will move to legalize betting will face opposition from other parties and moral forces in the country.

Prudent legalization of betting means a time when all malls will have betting kiosks, and many panwalas will have digital equipment to make collections and payouts , and all this will make the government richer in billions of Dollars, but sadly the stigma attached to the issue makes even the wise resist tapping this wealth which would be for the general good of India.

Legal Betting will make government earn even more as illegal havala system in place for bettors settling will be done away with. There will be reduced money laundering and finally the money will not be channelized through groups that cause the nations security a live threat.

Moral Policing has never ended prostitution, various lawmakers of different nations have been known to have paid for commercial sex. No one stopped drinking during prohibition, even on dry days, people drink. Moral policing is absurd especially since money is a need of all free humans, and speculation is a behavior that is in all humans. All business have speculation embedded in them. Like any other so called social evil, gambling will never go. The Dharamraja Yudhisthar in Mahabharata was keen gambler. The gambling Industry is very ancient.

Legally registered bookmakers can help government fight illegalities that crop up in sports. Match-fixing or making a race, it will become easier to fight these evils with transparency that will arrive with legal status to bookmaking.As long as betting is conducted in legal and transparent manner it will benefit all.

However at no point of time in history, gambling could have enriched a nation so much, in fact from the tax collected the government can set out a fund for pathological gamblers and rehabilitate them. Singapore is coming up with a Casino, where if a wife reports that her husband cannot play, he will be barred. There always will be methods to deal with problems. Today the time is ripe for the government to tap in the revenue that legalization of betting can generate. As an industry it will open new jobs and a ripple effect of wealth will touch all parts of the nation.

DON'T BE SUCKERED, MAKE MONEY AT HORSE RACING

A GOOD TIPSTER IS A MUST IF YOU DO NOT HAVE REQUISITE KNOWLEDGE

There is no shame in following certain successful tipsters through their blogs and otherwise, but that doesn't mean you follow different tipsters for different races, choose a tipster for a day and follow him, if its a card of 8 races the tipsters will deliver 3-5 winners. If you play all races, you might end up in a loss, because few of these winners will be at short odds, however if you pick and choose, there is every chance that you will end up making money.

Another method is following tipsters for types of races, for example, there are tipsters with good record in low class races, and tipsters who are specialist and deliver high percentage of winners in graded and listed races. There are many tipsters around that favor the longer odds horses, it is best left to your judgment which type of races he usually gets longer odds winners in. I know a particular blog which favors longer odds and usually finds winners in sprints, so following him when unsure of favorites in a sprint is a good strategy.

There are also center specific tipsters, they specialize at the horses of a particular center, pay attention to them, they have vast knowledge of the conditions, horses, professionals and owners and know the trends better than most. It's true after punting for few weeks a punter thinks he knows all, but being prudent is being a man who understands that there are others who also have a point of view and certain people are seldom wrong.

Many punters get frustrated with one bad day and vent their ire at tipsters and leave shameful comments on the blogs, well my dear friends, if racing was so predictable, all trainers and jockeys would have beaten Ambani's and Mittals in riches. This also gives us another principal, expect the unexpected. What you expect never really happens in life and its more true at the race course, when you enter the turf club you maybe bubbling with enthusiasm, having pin pointed certain winners, but then you see the hype around these horses being destroyed over the course of the race. There is only one way to differentiate between hype and reality and that's knowledge.

'KNOWLEDGE IS THE KEY'

A good horse race betting strategy involves gathering all of the knowledge you can about a particular race. One should prefer horses that are previous winners, or ran close to winners, choosing a horse that has won before is a betting strategy that often works, but it still has certain parameters and theories before a bet is made, a youngster is often considered difficult for win when giving weight to another youngster despite a comfortable previous winning outing.

Form is important, stick to horses who have recently run in a race and were creditable performers, this shows they are fit and their legs will be ready to compete. Close finishers within couple of lenghts are ready to strike soon. A horse that is coming after a lay off shows that it may have suffered a recent injury or sickness. It doesn’t matter how good they were before their break, chances are they will need to get back to track form. As you watch creditable performers, its also prudent to keep a watch on fit horses who are non jobbers, they are on a weight reduction mission or lowering class mission and are potential goli's to watch out for. Well seems too much work...leave this job to tipsters they are keeping a watch and such horses are always in their fluke list a couple of races before they are actually tried.

'JOCKEYS HOLD THE WHIP!'

Jockeys are also in form or out of it like horses, so one must also gain knowledge about the jockeys, some jockeys are masters on tracks, they give the animals their workouts and prepare them for races, but in a race they might foil all the chances of the horse to win, so every jockey have different specializations, good jockeys turn dud's into real thoroughbreds during a race, while others are capable of turning winners into losers with inept handling, some are good at running non jobbers, and make a hash of it when they go for a win.

'DON'T CHASE LOSSES'

You must have a figure for the loss limit, beyond which call it quits and live to fight for another day. Don't increase amount of bet when losing, on a bad day, the losses will pile up, as there never are 100% winners, even the sure shots have been known to lose because they burst a blood vessel or turned in lame, or an accident forces the rider to fall of the horse or...it is slow off...anything can happen, so keep your betting unit constant. If you lose, go slow, make smaller bets, because chasing your losses you can lose enough to be off racing altogether in a short time. I have seen many punters come and go in last three decades, however most of the book making companies are the same. So when its a bookmakers day...give him less...as less as possible Do

'ANALYSE THE ODDS'

If you do all above right you come to the most crucial aspect of winning, wagering ...to successfully win, one must analyse the odds, spot worthy favorites, and if you feel the horse isn't a worthy favorite, its better to eat than play, and more successful to win consistently, picking a winner is difficult, picking a loser is easier. Odds movement in the market gives clues to chances at race, the jobbers have shortening odds and losers odds are most likely to drift higher, many people get suckered when they find their much hyped horse at a better price...and back it only to lose. Learning how to spot the better odds and weigh them against the horses in the race is a good way to strengthen a horse race betting strategy. Most accurate resources to turn to when investigating the odds of a horse race available today are tipsters who have their blogs, regular visit to your favorite tipsters will surely give you early warning systems and you will be well prepared early to sight right horses with right odds in the ring. Usually, these tipsters have years of experience, which comes in pretty handy when choosing winners.

'TRACK CONDITIONS'

When you pay attention to the track conditions, you might be able to incorporate this information into your strategy, tracks that are slow or heavy provide good racing conditions for fast starters. Horses that tend to take the lead early succeed better with muddy, slow, or heavy track conditions, as we saw in Pune races recently.

'FINALLY'

It takes time for one to be aware of so many things, and I have come across people who have a hole in their pockets because they like to bash these tipsters , one miss by the tipsters and these frustrated losers resort to abusing them, some of them consider themselves as Nostradamus of racing, honestly we stop seeing them soon enough, and don't even miss them. Making money is difficult, but losing it is very easy. One of the eminent tipsters wrote a wonderful thing to me in an e-mail, he considers horses as stocks and invests in them, he is a successful and respected tipster, and if you find such a gem around you, you will surely end up making money.

BLOGGING AWAY TO PROFIT

How internet has affected the world's commerce is well known and documented. The effect it has had on communities which were reclusive, reluctant and perhaps taboo is still not known.

There is one community in India which is blossoming with the advent of blogging, and that's the racing community. Horse racing in India is still not very respected despite it being the sport of the King's and King of Sport. The avid race goers have been sharply divided into the knowledgeable and ignorant. The bettors are more unequally divided into smart and the herd mentality mass. Any one who has been associated with horse racing learns a lesson that inside information never works, if it had, all trainers, jockeys and owners would be billionaires and bookies would cease to exist. The fact is a very small percentage of bettors manage to exist after five years of racing, most wither away having made insurmountably losses. The fact is in last thirty years I have seen many huge punters come and go, but the bookmakers are still the same.

That doesn't mean one must become a bookmaker to make money in racing, one can bet and survive, and suddenly the few good men who are knowledgeable have decided to share it all with punters and what we have a vibrant community of bloggers who follow their tipsters and I know many are making a profit.

The advent of these blogs meant there would be a few normal tipsters and few out of the ordinary. The first maverick and extraordinary blog was destiny calling started by Mr. Raj Gopal Nair, he has a unique system of DFR, which you can apply to the tips of your favorite tipster and laugh all the way to profit, it dosen't mean that the DFR system is in fallible, it is, but still it is the first proper system of rating and odds in Indian blogosphere and still the best performing.

Another unique blog is racing-info.blogspot, this blog has taken online bloggers community with storm, there are many firsts to the credit of this blog, it is interactive, and has a live room where blog members share the whole racing experience together. The main contributors are Like of Abel D Raj, whose rating system is amongst the best...his graded race selections are usually infallible and has a huge strike rate with his full 100 rating thoroughbreds. Then there is Ravi a delhi based contributor, who is amiable always ready to help and finally Charan from Calcutta, who I guess doesnt not follow any of the systems but has a knack of picking five six winners in a day like it is as normal thing to do as breathing. Charan has avid and mad supporters today, he too has bad days, but those who follow Charan have not yet paid their bookies a single dime since live room has started, after the week it is always cash in instead of pay out.

Suddenly the racing community which thrived on connections, inside informations, which others used to conceal and sometimes let out wrong information for malicious purposes is history. We get educated tips, one can look to Shyam, Tiger, Swamybabu, and Madhu all of whose blogs have tips according to their systems.

However today, there is none better than racing-info, where i have made friends, we share views, knowledge, happiness and sorrows, and suddenly...to hell with information...and we are making money.

I am sure we are still a small community...but the way we are blogging to profits...the numbers are set to increase...who knows in three years we'll have more people on this blog than at the course when races are on...

MAHALAXMI RACING...RWITC NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING DRASTIC

I have returned to race course after years, though whichever part of the world i have been i have kept in touch with happenings and events of the race course and have watched direct telecasts on ten sports of feature events. Well I thought race course to be the same place I had been a regular to as a youngster... it's not. I remember Delhi race course, it's become something like that, instead of improving, racing at mahalaxmi seems to have regressed. I am not aware if other racing centres have regressed equally.

One of my favorite owners as a youngster was Mr. Champak Lal Zhaveri, he has graduated to being a senior custodian of RWITC and I was delighted to see him present various trophies to winning owners with a ever radiant smile and panache that suits him so well and a charm that he has retained so well over the years, but that's all about the race course that hasn't changed.

First thing i noticed was a lack of crowd, the stands have been empty, even for major events like ST. Leger that I attended this year the crowd were a patch of whaat we used to see on a regular race day back in eighties and early nineties, so why has the public dumped racing?

One answer to it is evident that Mumbai racing is like what delhi race course of eighties was, you saw the color of betting in the ring and discovered the winner, I never imagined that could happen in Mumbai ever, i was proud of the fact that racing in Mumbai was a sport and not gambling. Now look what happens in Mumbai, Pre race favorites at 16/10 Golden orra goes up to 5-1 in the same race Cindrella man starts at 2-1 and finishes well over three and Breznev which started the day at 2-1 opens over three and touches 5-1, and then dutifully all three lose...two of them well in rear. Same thing happened with price of Arkhos and Hurricane, well before the race you know that these horses are not on job! A horse who doesn't figure on board in past races wins a race start to finish in a miler!!!

No doubt that RWITC is no longer running a sport, but a gambling den. Nothing has changed at the race course, the same old chairs in the stands, they look ancient now, the eatbles are sorry reminders of dishes that are ancient. You get some sorry sandwiches, cutlets!!, puffs!!! the sofas outside the stand counters appear to have been bought from a 1920 garage sale. the lawns were badly kept and patches of brown showing at many places.

The paddock is in a very sorry state, the fencing is in urgent need of replacement, the information boards are a blast from past, in days of plasma screen and touch button interactivity RWITC course is a stark reminder of things as they existed years ago. The television sets are bad, many have contrasts and colors messed up, and the seating in front of the paddocks where mostly old and avid race goers sit down to look at the horses at close quarters is the most uncomfortable place of the race course.

The cloak rooms need a complete makeover, there is a need for proper seating, more greenery and upmarket snacking at the RWITC. Those who took the decision to allow people in pants & shirts have killed the glamor of the race course, there needs to be a dress code, if suits are out then at least people should be formally dressed and look good, what's this with jeans & sneakers. It's a funny sight seeing Pesi Shroff lead a winning horse in ill fitting trouser and shirt with his body bulging from all points, i guess a jacket would definately do him good, Dallas Todywalla with his tie and a jacket has maintained the dignity that trainers should.

Finally having gone through almost a season with continous track of races at RWITC, i can sum it up by saying clean racing is dead, most of the professionals are hunters of punters. there are no crowds that cheer the owner as he leads the horse and I haven't seen single standing ovation to a jockey, trainer or an owner.

The gap between successful and not so successful professionals has grown very large. Most people complain of the inefficiency of the stewards to maintain clean racing. My father quit owning horses after his very well bred horse Knight & Day who was running an on money favorite was got by the race mafia and killed. My father was shattered as the culprits were never brought to justice.

Years after that incident, today at Mahalaxmi it appears mafia rules the roost.

If we need the sport to survive, we need to make things better at the race course, and ofcourse, we need to get the bookmakers out, the tote dishes out good odds, let people back whatever they want at the tote.