Horse Racing: Derby weekend promises exciting racing

The first Sunday of February has always been special for the city of Mumbai. Along with the city race lovers, thousands of rail-birds from all over the country throng the Mahalaxmi racecourse to witness the Indian Derby (Gr 1), the race that crowns the best four year old horse as a new equine superstar.

The Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) has made sure the 25,000 plus horse lovers who will attend the weekend racing will carry home memories to be cherished for a lifetime.

Unprecedented quality
Besides the Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby (Gr 1), the Sunday (Feb 3) card boasts of a Gr 2 race, two Gr 3 races, a Multi-Million race, and three Million races. The most heartening development is the race club has revived the fortunes of the Eclipse Stake of India, once a very prestigious race that had lost its eminence in recent years, by naming it after veteran trainer, the late S M Shah, and making it a Gr 2 event. Supporting the Derby and the Eclipse Stakes, will be the Ebco Worksmart Breeders' Produce Stake (Gr 3) and the Rusi Patel Gold Cup (Gr 3), thus making it the first ever Derby day offering as many as four group races.

Millions galore
Besides these four group races, the other four races on the Derby card will all be the Million races, one of them, a Multi-Millioin: The B K Rattonsey Memorial Maiden Multi-Million, a six-furlong sprint for three-year-olds who will be looking for their first career win; the Padmini & Gobind Jhangian Million over the same trip, but for class III horses; and Dr M A M Ramaswamy Million & Tattersalls Million for class IV horses over five and seven furlongs respectively.

Grand start
To kick off the weekend racing, a compact seven-race card is framed for Saturday evening which too will feature another three Million races such as the Thumbelina Million, the Ebco Livesmart Million and the Kingfisher Ultra Sundowner Million for classes IV, II & V respectively. With live bands on both days and a plethora of entertainment features, the Derby weekend promises to be an exciting affair.

Special BOX
Jackpot of jackpots
The most audacious move by the RWITC that is set to create a record collection for the jackpot pool on the Derby day is putting up Rs 1 crore as bonus for the jackpot pool. Check out the image which details how a lucky racegoers can dream of winning the bumper prize with a Rs 10 ticket.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates