Lessons from the Invitation Cup weekend
The Royal Western India Turf Club organised the Invitation Cup weekend with its customary zeal. There was high quality action and the club’s chairman Vivek Jain as usual worked hard to make the event colourful in all respects though the awards function was a flop because under the existing system, it is bound to repetitive and boring. Imagine the situation where year after year, the same horse keeps winning!
The lack of excitement about these awards could not have been better illustrated by the fact that most of the award winners were not present on the occasion. Perhaps the awards are an embarrassment of sorts for the recipients themselves. What is the value of these awards, advertised as Oscars of racing when the organisers could not get the winners to receive their prizes. The presentation ceremony was boring notwithstanding the best effort made by presenter Vir Das. Without his presentation which was laced with ribald humour which kept the crowd entertained, it would have been a disaster. The policy of RWITC as hosts seemed to be at pleasing all going by the number of special awards that were presented though they failed to recognize the contribution of people who make the sport happen, be it the racing officials or the silent workers.
Coming back to racing, there were many inconsistent performances which were annoying to say the least. The feeling of having been let down was evident in the number of postings in the public forum where race goers have expressed anguish. Suraj Narredu was suspended after trainer Pesi Shroff and the owners of Xisca and jockey Stephane Pasquier reported to the authorities that the jockey was doing the job of a policeman and was trying to keep the second favourite stuck along the rails. One felt sad for Suraj who is a champion in his own right seen in this light.
The track was a source of concern. It was hard and the kick back had many horses and jockeys in great deal of bother. Some of the horses who ran in the Invitation Cup weekend races had bruised eyes as the kick back smashed the faces of horses and jockeys. One jockey returned with a black eye despite the protective goggles worn by him. The watering was uneven and it is surprising that RWITC which is always progressive when it comes to procuring modern facilities, does not have the facility of an automatic water sprinkler. Watering by using a hose pipe is not the answer in these times. The heat seriously hurt the horses with several of them returning with burst blood vessels.
The RWITC can also take the lead in procuring the facility to clock sectional timings of each of the runners in a race. Also the camera work needs to be improved because objections are solely decided by Stewards based on what they see in television replays. At present what they see on TV can be pretty misleading. Something like the Hawk Eye as the one used in determining LBW decisions in cricket may help the Stewards possibly take correct decisions while deciding on objections. At present, it is decided without giving a serious thought to the nature of objection but merely seconding the opinion of those with whom they are identified with in the room. The Third Umpire facility is sorely needed at this stage to prevent controversies as also to stop stewards from taking whimsical decisions.
Moonlight Romance became the second horse after Smart Chieftain to win the Bangalore Derby, Indian Derby and the Invitation Cup during the last one decade. These three races carry higher bonus points as allocated by the pattern racing committee. Incidentally, another great of Indian racing Elusive Pimpernel had also achieved a similar feat. More than two decades ago, Revelation had won the Indian Oaks, Indian Derby and the Invitation Cup and Moonlight Romance accomplished that and more. The Usha Stud Farm could not have asked for a better result from the Invitation Cup. The first two placed horses of the Invitation Cup were sired by China Visit. The stallion seems to be firing on all cylinders just as cynics were writing him off. Incidentally, China Visit also sired Atilla who won the Sprinters Cup.
Champion trainer Pesi Shroff had the mortification of seeing three of his horses lose out narrowly in the Group I races. Xisca went down fighting to Moonlight Romance in the Invitation Cup; Onassis lost the Super Mile in a close finish to Mr Greedy while Cabriolet was floored by the brilliance of Arabian Prince in the Stayers Cup. Atilla’s victory was indeed the only bright spot for the trainer. But the important thing for the trainer is that with better luck he could have swept the graded races like he had done when he was a jockey. As a jockey, he won three graded races during the Invitation Cup weekend at Chennai, winning the Invitation Cup on Amorous Knight, Stayers Cup on Pavielle and Sprinters Cup on Recardo. With the kind of horses that he has at his command, he is sure to achieve this feat one day.
Richard Hughes could erase the bad memories of losing out the Indian Derby by his wrong choice of horse which helped David Allan get an unexpected success in the biggest race of Indian calendar. He was back on Moonlight Romance and he rode the filly with his customary brilliance, tactfully averting what could have spelt disaster following Business Tycoon breaking down. Luckily, there was no pile up as the jockeys who were in his path showed presence of mind and quick reflexes to steer clear of the trouble. The fact that Moonlight Romance was the one who was affected most and yet came and won confirms the belief that she was easily the best of her vintage. This was the second Invitation Cup success of Hughes as he had earlier won the same event at Bangalore on Smart Chieftain.
The lack of excitement about these awards could not have been better illustrated by the fact that most of the award winners were not present on the occasion. Perhaps the awards are an embarrassment of sorts for the recipients themselves. What is the value of these awards, advertised as Oscars of racing when the organisers could not get the winners to receive their prizes. The presentation ceremony was boring notwithstanding the best effort made by presenter Vir Das. Without his presentation which was laced with ribald humour which kept the crowd entertained, it would have been a disaster. The policy of RWITC as hosts seemed to be at pleasing all going by the number of special awards that were presented though they failed to recognize the contribution of people who make the sport happen, be it the racing officials or the silent workers.
Coming back to racing, there were many inconsistent performances which were annoying to say the least. The feeling of having been let down was evident in the number of postings in the public forum where race goers have expressed anguish. Suraj Narredu was suspended after trainer Pesi Shroff and the owners of Xisca and jockey Stephane Pasquier reported to the authorities that the jockey was doing the job of a policeman and was trying to keep the second favourite stuck along the rails. One felt sad for Suraj who is a champion in his own right seen in this light.
The track was a source of concern. It was hard and the kick back had many horses and jockeys in great deal of bother. Some of the horses who ran in the Invitation Cup weekend races had bruised eyes as the kick back smashed the faces of horses and jockeys. One jockey returned with a black eye despite the protective goggles worn by him. The watering was uneven and it is surprising that RWITC which is always progressive when it comes to procuring modern facilities, does not have the facility of an automatic water sprinkler. Watering by using a hose pipe is not the answer in these times. The heat seriously hurt the horses with several of them returning with burst blood vessels.
The RWITC can also take the lead in procuring the facility to clock sectional timings of each of the runners in a race. Also the camera work needs to be improved because objections are solely decided by Stewards based on what they see in television replays. At present what they see on TV can be pretty misleading. Something like the Hawk Eye as the one used in determining LBW decisions in cricket may help the Stewards possibly take correct decisions while deciding on objections. At present, it is decided without giving a serious thought to the nature of objection but merely seconding the opinion of those with whom they are identified with in the room. The Third Umpire facility is sorely needed at this stage to prevent controversies as also to stop stewards from taking whimsical decisions.
Moonlight Romance became the second horse after Smart Chieftain to win the Bangalore Derby, Indian Derby and the Invitation Cup during the last one decade. These three races carry higher bonus points as allocated by the pattern racing committee. Incidentally, another great of Indian racing Elusive Pimpernel had also achieved a similar feat. More than two decades ago, Revelation had won the Indian Oaks, Indian Derby and the Invitation Cup and Moonlight Romance accomplished that and more. The Usha Stud Farm could not have asked for a better result from the Invitation Cup. The first two placed horses of the Invitation Cup were sired by China Visit. The stallion seems to be firing on all cylinders just as cynics were writing him off. Incidentally, China Visit also sired Atilla who won the Sprinters Cup.
Champion trainer Pesi Shroff had the mortification of seeing three of his horses lose out narrowly in the Group I races. Xisca went down fighting to Moonlight Romance in the Invitation Cup; Onassis lost the Super Mile in a close finish to Mr Greedy while Cabriolet was floored by the brilliance of Arabian Prince in the Stayers Cup. Atilla’s victory was indeed the only bright spot for the trainer. But the important thing for the trainer is that with better luck he could have swept the graded races like he had done when he was a jockey. As a jockey, he won three graded races during the Invitation Cup weekend at Chennai, winning the Invitation Cup on Amorous Knight, Stayers Cup on Pavielle and Sprinters Cup on Recardo. With the kind of horses that he has at his command, he is sure to achieve this feat one day.
Richard Hughes could erase the bad memories of losing out the Indian Derby by his wrong choice of horse which helped David Allan get an unexpected success in the biggest race of Indian calendar. He was back on Moonlight Romance and he rode the filly with his customary brilliance, tactfully averting what could have spelt disaster following Business Tycoon breaking down. Luckily, there was no pile up as the jockeys who were in his path showed presence of mind and quick reflexes to steer clear of the trouble. The fact that Moonlight Romance was the one who was affected most and yet came and won confirms the belief that she was easily the best of her vintage. This was the second Invitation Cup success of Hughes as he had earlier won the same event at Bangalore on Smart Chieftain.
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