Leger should be made a weight for age race
The Bangalore St Leger will be held on Sunday and a small field will compete for the last classic of the season. Pesi Shroff trained Xisca towers over the rest, with the others being in the fray more in hope than with any real chance. With breeding in India oriented towards producing sprinter milers, there is a paucity of horses capable of saying the gruelling mile and six furlongs trip. As such, there is need to review the composition of the field for Leger. The Leger has lost its popularity as evidenced by hardly any one targeting their wards for this particular race. With hardly any lead up race for preparing horses for this trip, even preparation of horses for this race is not also ideal.
Calcutta has already downgraded the Leger and the race no longer enjoys the tag of a classic race. The race is no doubt still popular in the country of its origin namely England. But in other countries like France and Ireland, the race is a weight for age race. With the fields becoming increasingly thin and the race not holding any competitive interest or attraction for trainers and professionals, the turf authorities could infuse some freshness into the race by throwing open the race for older and younger horses so that we can have a competitive race. This way we can help older horses who are specialists in longer distance races, to get more opportunities. This race also could help trainers to specifically target for the Gr 1 Stayers Cup instead of running horses in this race merely because there is a race to be run.
This race has been pushed back by a season in all racing centres. Only Mumbai used to have this race after the running of the Indian classics as the last classic of the season. From this year onwards, the race will be permanently held at Pune when the four-year olds would have got stronger. This is also done in the belief that the fields can be big and competitive as it can attract outstation challenge. Bangalore holds this race in the summer season and Hyderabad in the monsoon season. Even with such a facility, fields are rarely competitive with the odd staying horse walking away with glory in a less competitive environment. If one were to do a survey of the number of Leger winners that one readily remembers as compared with the Derby winners, this issue is put in proper perspective. The best horses don’t always win this race.
There has been persistent demand for converting the Indian Turf Invitation Cup race as weight for age race allowing the best of older generation to compete against the best of that year’s classic crop. This idea was pursued for a long time but the traditionalists, Hyderabad Race Club and Madras Race Club, opposed the move. A compromise was struck in the form of framing a new race in the meeting of the Turf Authorities of India at Mumbai in March. The 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.
In this context, in order to encourage greater fields and also give opportunity for older horses which suffer from lack of valuable race over staying trips, the Leger can be made more attractive by throwing it open thereby enhancing its value as well as the prestige of the race. Surely, the Bangalore Turf Club, which has been the leader in many ways, can take the lead.
Calcutta has already downgraded the Leger and the race no longer enjoys the tag of a classic race. The race is no doubt still popular in the country of its origin namely England. But in other countries like France and Ireland, the race is a weight for age race. With the fields becoming increasingly thin and the race not holding any competitive interest or attraction for trainers and professionals, the turf authorities could infuse some freshness into the race by throwing open the race for older and younger horses so that we can have a competitive race. This way we can help older horses who are specialists in longer distance races, to get more opportunities. This race also could help trainers to specifically target for the Gr 1 Stayers Cup instead of running horses in this race merely because there is a race to be run.
This race has been pushed back by a season in all racing centres. Only Mumbai used to have this race after the running of the Indian classics as the last classic of the season. From this year onwards, the race will be permanently held at Pune when the four-year olds would have got stronger. This is also done in the belief that the fields can be big and competitive as it can attract outstation challenge. Bangalore holds this race in the summer season and Hyderabad in the monsoon season. Even with such a facility, fields are rarely competitive with the odd staying horse walking away with glory in a less competitive environment. If one were to do a survey of the number of Leger winners that one readily remembers as compared with the Derby winners, this issue is put in proper perspective. The best horses don’t always win this race.
There has been persistent demand for converting the Indian Turf Invitation Cup race as weight for age race allowing the best of older generation to compete against the best of that year’s classic crop. This idea was pursued for a long time but the traditionalists, Hyderabad Race Club and Madras Race Club, opposed the move. A compromise was struck in the form of framing a new race in the meeting of the Turf Authorities of India at Mumbai in March. The 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.
In this context, in order to encourage greater fields and also give opportunity for older horses which suffer from lack of valuable race over staying trips, the Leger can be made more attractive by throwing it open thereby enhancing its value as well as the prestige of the race. Surely, the Bangalore Turf Club, which has been the leader in many ways, can take the lead.
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