Talk:Royal Calcutta Turf Club/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Epicgenius (talk · contribs) 17:39, 20 August 2020 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)
It is reasonably well written. a (prose, spelling, and grammar): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists): It is factually accurate and verifiable. a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism): It is broad in its coverage. a (major aspects): b (focused): It follows the neutral point of view policy. Fair representation without bias: It is stable. No edit wars, etc.: It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate. a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
Overall: Pass/Fail:
· · ·

Prose

Lead

• The Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC), founded in 1847 in Calcutta, British India (now Kolkata, India), became the premier horse racing organization in India during the British Raj. - This needs to be split up into two sentences. The very first sentence can describe what the RCTC is, and where it was located. The second can say when it was founded, and the fact that it "became the premier horse racing organization in India during the British Raj". As it is, I had to read to the last sentence to find out that the RCTC is still operating.
• At one time it was the governing body for almost all courses in the sub-continent, defining and applying the rules that governed the sport. During its heyday, the races it organized... - There is too much repetition of "it".
• I think the lead should be expanded a little bit. 2 paragraphs is a good length. It might be worth summarizing the "origins" section in the first paragraph, although not in the first sentence.

More to come. epicgenius (talk) 16:58, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

Epicgenius,  Done ❯❯❯   S A H A 04:00, 27 August 2020 (UTC)

@ArnabSaha: great. Here are some more comments:

• After the closure of Tollygunge racecourse, a new racecourse was setup by the club at Barrackpore, as an alternative of Maidan, in the 1920s. - in this case, "set up" is 2 words.
• As of 2020, there are three viewing pavilion and the main pavilion has three tiers. - the first use of "pavilions" is plural: there are three viewing pavilions.

 Done ❯❯❯   S A H A 19:41, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Origins

• Organised horse races were first held in India on 16 January 1769 at Akra, near Calcutta, where they were held for the next 40 years. - I would use "where they would be" instead of "where they were". The continuous tense should be used to describe this as a recurring event.

i have a confusion here. using would instead of were for a 18th century thing doesnt seem appropriate to me. ❯❯❯   S A H A 20:16, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

• Governor Lord Wellesley prohibited horse racing in 1798, but five years later the Bengal Jockey Club resumed racing at Akra. - Any particular reason why Wellesley banned horse racing, or why they resumed?

added few things here. ❯❯❯   S A H A 20:17, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

• In 1812 the club laid out a new course at approximately the current racecourse location.[3] The racecourse is in the southwest part of the Maidan. - I would suggest combining these sentences
• usually in five heats of 2.5 miles (4.0 km). - is there a link for "heats"?
• Races were run in the comparative cool of mornings just after sunrise, usually in five heats of 2.5 miles (4.0 km). The idea was to test both the speed and the stamina of the horse. - I would also combine these sentences. I would also move, to the beginning of the sentence, the fact that the horse's speed and stamina were tested in these races.

 Done ❯❯❯   S A H A 20:10, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Foundation and growth

• The Calcutta Turf Club was founded on 20 February 1847.[5] The purpose was to regulate all aspects of horse racing in Calcutta. - I would combine these too.
• In 1880 public interest in racing grew when races started to be held in the afternoons, and new stands were built - I'd suggest rephrasing this to mention these improvements closer to the date when they were completed. E.g. "Public interest in racing grew in 1880, when races started to be held in the afternoons, and new stands were built".
• By 1899 the Calcutta Turf Club was the authority for rules at all of the 52 courses in the subcontinent and Burma apart from Bombay, Pune, Karachi and Kolhapur, which were under the jurisdiction of Bombay. - the Bombay turf club?
• The club continues to hold polo matches on the grounds in the middle of the racecourse. - I would either move this to the "today" section, or combine this with the previous sentence. If you decide to combine them, I would suggest something like "In the 1880s the Calcutta Turf Club held polo matches, open to both Indians and Europeans; these polo matches continue to be held on the grounds in the middle of the racecourse."
• I would move the link for Bombay to where it's first mentioned.
• Jockeys could not bet and professional handicappers were introduced. - Since this immediately follows the sentence "Sir William introduced various other changes", I would add a connecting phrase at the beginning of the sentence, such as "For instance" or "As part of these changes".
• In 1905 the Prince of Wales, the future King George V, attended the races. In 1908 the Maharaja of Burdwan, Dhiraja Sri Bejoy Chand Mahtab, was the first Indian elected as a full member of the club - I would switch around the wording of one of these sentences, because they both begin with "In x year..."
• In the early 20th century the Calcutta Turf Club held races on 28 days each year. - I'd suggest changing to "During the 20th century".

More later. epicgenius (talk) 18:14, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Epicgenius,  Done ❯❯❯   S A H A 20:10, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Later years

• In 1915 the Tollygunge course was closed and steeplechases were run at the Maidan course - Had steeplechases been run at the Maidan course before 1915? Or were the steeplechases moved from Tollygunge to Maidan? If the steeplechases were moved, I would say "steeplechases were moved to the Maidan course" instead.
• at an acceptable price - the source doesn't specify the price, but I would put "at a very reasonable price" in quotes. Unless you find a source that does specify the price.
• Grand Nationals continued to be run at the Maidan course until 1929, when the Grand National was transferred to Lahore, where it was held until 1938 - is it necessary to mention that the Grand Nationals were held at Lahore until 1938?
• Thus the Australian Harvey Roulston was hired as an administrator, the Australian "Gray" gate was used in place of English starting gates, Australian jockeys such as Edgar Britt moved to Calcutta to ride for Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the Maharaja of Baroda State and Australian horses were imported. - I would change the first two commas to semicolons here, since "Australian jockeys such as Edgar Britt moved to Calcutta to ride for Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the Maharaja of Baroda State" is a standalone list item, and itself has a comma. This use of semicolons is typically used for list items that contain commas. I would put a semicolon after "Baroda State" as well, since that's an ambiguity requiring a serial comma.
  •  Done. also 1 doubt. comma isnt generally used in British English. Although I have added that. ❯❯❯   S A H A 19:59, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Gambling

• A mildly disapproving account from 1866 described the betting practices, which is called "lotteries" - change "which is called" to "which are called"
• 40 percent of the total pool went to the first prize winner, 20 percent to the second and 10 percent to the third - I would change these to "Forty", "twenty", and "ten". The first instance is because sentences should not usually start with numbers. The others are for consistency.
  •  Done ❯❯❯   S A H A 19:39, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Today

• The building was at 11 Russell Street. - Is it still at that location? Sounds like it is.
  • Yes and the road still exists. ❯❯❯   S A H A
• it was an oasis of calm - change to "it was described as an oasis of calm". Otherwise, it sounds like a subjective description rather than an objective summary of what someone else said.
• The stands except the Members Stand are now open to all members of the public - I would suggest "The stands are now open to all members of the public, except the Members Stand".
• The racecourse today has three viewing stands - link to Kolkata Race Course?
• Races are run on Saturdays most of the year. But nowadays races are also being run on Monday, Tuesday, too. - when is "nowadays"? I would also combine these sentences.
  •  Done ❯❯❯   S A H A 20:11, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

See also

• I'd remove this whole section per WP:SEEALSO since both links are already mentioned in the body.
  • @Epicgenius:removed previous links, added another related link link. ❯❯❯   S A H A 20:13, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

POV and coverage

Seems fine to me.

References

• In the "sources" section, I would spell out the RCTC's full name where they're listed as publisher.
• Otherwise, all sources are reliable, and a spotcheck found that they do support the relevant information.
  •  Done ❯❯❯   S A H A 20:04, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Images and copyright

• Images are appropriately licensed.
• Captions are all right, except Stands at the former racecourse in Barrackpore, to the north of Calcutta. doesn't need a period per WP:CAPFRAG.
• I'm seeing significant false-positive violation matches from indianetzone.com/76/modern_history_royal_calcutta_turf_club.htm (a blacklisted source, which does not attribute Wikipedia as it should). That page was published in 2016 while this article is from 2013. There is no significant violation in this article. epicgenius (talk) 16:58, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

   Done ❯❯❯   S A H A 17:53, 22 August 2020 (UTC)

General comments

• Placed on hold. epicgenius (talk) 18:38, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Nice job, passing. epicgenius (talk) 20:36, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Epicgenius, thanks a lot epic. ❯❯❯   S A H A 20:36, 8 September 2020 (UTC)