Winner takes all

Winning the Indian Derby and leading in the winning horse to a thundering applause and a standing ovation by the mammoth Mahalaxmi crowd is a dream of every horse owner, and even big money is a small price to pay for that opportunity

The HPSL Indian Derby (Gr 1), to be run at the Mahalaxmi racetrack (Sunday, Feb 2), will be as wide open as the doorless Gateway Of India. Don't take my word for it--listen to the money!

If the owners of as many as five horses, which were not meant to run the Derby in the first place, shell out Rs 15 lakh each as "late entry fee" just to get into the Derby fray, that's only because they sense there could be a real chance for them to lead in the Derby winner at the end of the most exciting two-and-a-half-minutes in the horse racing game. Interestingly, this quintet includes Ranqelino who has traveled from Bangalore after a fluent victory in the Gr 1, Bangalore Derby on the Republic Day.

Winning the Indian Derby and leading in the winning horse to a thundering applause and a standing ovation by the mammoth Mahalaxmi crowd is a dream of every horse owner, and even big money is a small price to pay for that opportunity.

Little wonder then that no one wants to leave anything to chance. In hectic behind-the-scenes activity in the last week before the Derby, five top international jockeys have been booked to ride in the big race: Oisin Murphy, Tom Marquand, Chris Lemaire, David Allan and William Lee. They will be locking horns with ace Indian riders like Suraj Narredu, Trevor Patel, A Sandesh, Neeraj Rawal, Akshay Kumar and Vivek G.

So there you have it--an extremely competitive field 16 best turned out horses, world class racing professionals and a massive crowd of racing enthusiasts will make the HPSL Indian Derby (Gr 1) at the Mahalaxmi racetrack this Sunday a memorable affair.

Kaun banega crorepati?

"It doesn't get better than this," Ram Shroff, steward and chief of the marketing committee of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), said at the press meet to announce the Derby day details, "we are the only club in the country to offer a jackpot of Rs 1 crore plus--other (race) clubs don't offer even a million. I am talking here of ten million--a crore."

The Mumbai race club also holds the record for the biggest jackpot payout on a single ticket when film lyricist Rajendra Krishna scooped Rs 48 lakh (tax free in 1971) on a winning ticket costing only Rs 10.

Interestingly, even today, after more than 50 years, the jackpot ticket still costs only Rs 10. So if there is only one winning ticket in the jackpot pool on Sunday and you own it, you could be breaking Rajendra Krishna's record. But for that you will have to visit the racecourse on Sunday because, as the club's advertising tagline says: "If you never go; you never know."

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