Guindy rolls out the red carpet for carnival of racing

Ikram Khan | NT

Chennai: Has the Madras Race Club (MRC) raised the bar? The answer is a definite yes. Spearheaded by the dynamic chairman MAMR Muthaiah, the premier club hosting the ‘Champion Of Champions ‘event--the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, has provided a silver lining to the blue riband event and most professionals and the top racing administrators of the game while lauding the effort of Muthaiah made no secret of their opinion that MRC is on the fast track and in the years ahead is certain to join the elite racing club list.

The Madras Race Club will have the honour of hosting the 60th running of the Indian Turf Invitation Cup on March 5 and 6 in its Diamond Jubilee Year. This is horse racing at it’s very best as horses, professionals, owners, breeders and racing aficionados from across the country will check in for what has often been described as The Masters Of The Indian Turf. The total prize money is a whopping Rs 40 million.

The Bengaluru contingent holds a whiphand in the Sprinters’ Cup, multifaceted from leading Bengaluru trainer Darius Byramji’s yard, an overwhelming favourite to register his second straight success in the coveted event. Local hero My Opinion from B Suresh’s yard and Theon from the stables of champion Western India professional Pesi Shroff are likely to dominate the finish of Stayers’ Cup and the big cheer brigade at Guindy is ready to cheer the local mainhope, who appears in good nick.

The count down for the champion event has begun and the two Mumbai hopefuls, Juiliette from trainer Karthik Ganapathy’s yard and Zucarelli from the stables of Pesi Shroff are fancied most. The Bengaluru mainhope a Star Is Born is the `Joker’ in the pack, certain to add pep to the finish.

So all said and done the stage is set and the thunder of hooves will provide a lyrical ring to the racing extravaganza.