New invitational race proposed on Christmas day

There had been persistent debate whether the format of the Invitation Cup races needed to be changed for the last several years. The plea was to make it as a weight for age race without penalties like the Arc De Triomphe which is the richest race on grass in the world. The protagonists of this move wanted the best horses of classic vintage take on older accomplished and classic winning horses. The traditionalists had shot down the proposal as they felt change was unnecessary.

This issue came up once again at the Turf Authorities of India Meeting on Monday. With Hyderabad Race Club and Madras Race Club opposing the move, a compromise was struck in the form of framing a new race, to be held on rotational basis on December 25. The race, named Indian National Championship Trophy, is to offer stake money of Rs 1 crore. It will be open to four year olds and over and without penalties. The colts and geldings will carry 57 kgs and fillies and mares will care 55.5 kgs. The modalities needs to be worked but the race which was recommended by the Patterns Race Committee has been approved in principle and a formal announcement is awaited.
The Invitation Cup weekend racing has races over varying trips, starting from a sprint, to super mile to mile and half to 15 furlongs. For some time, there was also a race over 2000 metres called Vintage Cup which was later changed to Japan Cup. However, this race was abandoned as this was splitting the entries from the Stayers Cup. As such, the Pattern Race Committee wanted this newly proposed invitational race to be mile and quarter going by the fact that world over, the long distance races no longer hold charm and barring the Epsom Derby, the other Derbys like the Kentucky Derby (2000 M), the French Derby (2100 M) are over shorter trips.
In the last 30 odd years, we haven’t seen a Triple Crown winner as the Belmont Stakes is over 2400 metres and horses which win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes find it difficult to perform well over the longer trip which has always been won by horses which are specialists over this trip. A race over 2000 metres would attract the best of milers and horses which are capable of getting longer trips. This would have been a fine middle path considering the fact that our breeding is oriented towards producing sprinter milers. However, the breeders themselves reportedly shot down the proposal to reduce the trip to 2000 metres and wanted it to be over the traditional Derby distance of mile and half. This race will decide the champion of champions and the winner of this race will be awarded the horse of the year title by the Turf Authorities of India instead of the existing system which is dependent on points accumulated over a year’s performance.

Moonlight Romance became somewhat of a sensation wining the Bangalore Derby, Indian Derby and Invitation Cup. If the Invitation Cup itself was shifted from the present March which is not exactly conducive for the conduct of racing in several centres due to severe heat to December 25 which is the proposed date for the new race, it would have been ideal. Racing in Hyderabad closes by end of February, conditions are not so good in almost all racing centres with even Bangalore which has normally salubrious climate, has also warmed up significantly over the last few years. A December Invitation Cup would have meant a big race every eight months starting from Bangalore Derby in July, Indian Derby in February and Invitation Cup in December. However, it is unlikely that such a proposal would be accepted.

The reason why a new race is being proposed instead of changing the existing Invitation Cup as weight for age race was because of the view that four year olds are not mature enough to take on older horses and the result of this year’s races meant for four year olds and over were all won by older horses strengthening this belief. By December 25, four year olds will be just a few days away from turning a year older and hence the maturity level would be higher to take on older champions.
We have to wait and see how many horses last this long given the intense competition and the stressful conditions under which these horses race once they make their debut. We have a Group I race in the month of September namely the Gr 1 President of India Gold Cup which is a weight for age race without penalties. This race, despite its rich heritage and status, does not attract too many horses because of the fact that good horses will be running at a handicap which will make it difficult for the other horses to beat.

The Invitation Cup weekend sees graded races over varying distances with the only missing event being the seven furlong race which is now a multi-million race without the tag. There is a proposal to make it is a Group II race.

Some changes have been made in the pattern of nomination to Invitation Cup races. With their being restriction in some centres as to how many horses they can accommodate in race, each turf authority can now nominate only three horses for each of these races. Kolkata cannot accommodate more than 15 horses in each race. The handicappers of each centre can nominate any number of reserves and the organising club’s handicapper is at liberty to fill up the vacancies based on the rating of horses. Balloting of horses is permitted in the event of the fields being more than what can be accommodated. For example, even RWI”TC cannot accommodate more than 18 horses for Stayers Cup because of the starting point.

The maximum permissible field will be 20 runners in each race with the minimum to be accommodated being 15. Horses which are nominated should have run at that centre, during the season (ie April 1 of previous year till date).

In a significant development, the Madras Race Club has agreed to introduce the rating system. Whatever the flaws, the ratings for each race as against its previous rating will be available.