HORSE RACING AT ITS HIGHEST AT N’ ELIYA

With the Avurudhu season just around the corner, the festive mood with the excitement and thrill is yet to appear in most places. But Nuwara Eliya took off a bit earlier than scheduled when the Spring Family Race Day, organised by the Royal Turf Club (RTC), concluded on Sunday, which made way for the start of the Nuwara Eliya ‘season’ officially. Impeding showers marred the race day towards the latter part of the day, but Alcazaba managed to steal the lime light as it claimed victory in the Selvarathnam Challenge Trophy prior to it. Four races were concluded successfully but with the rains getting in the way, three races had to be cancelled out.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Panduka Keerthinanda, President, RTC said that although the weather wasn’t the most favourable for horse racing towards the latter part of the day, four great races were witnessed before that and it was a thing to celebrate about. “The weather gods were not in their best of moods and went against us and thus three races had to be cancelled out. Nevertheless we were lucky enough to see four great races in which all of them were tight finishes with much excitement. It is something that we should celebrate about. The whole race day was perfectly organised and I wish to thank each and every individual who contributed towards making the event a successful one,” he said.

“We had the first Pony Welfare raffle draw at the races on Sunday, where the earnings are set to be used for the well-being of the ponies in the area. It was a crowd-attraction as well, as many fans who were present to watch races took part in the raffle draw with much excitement. We also introduced a state-of-theart horse ambulance at the races this time. We look forward to the next race day, which is scheduled for April 16, as it would feature the much anticipated RTC Magic Million Cup, with the biggest prize money on offer,” he said finally. The race day began well when Queen of the Hill, ridden by Jockey M. Ishan, claimed victory in the RTC Nuwara Eliya Festive Cup for the three quarter bred horses. Airborne II and Jockey S. Dasadaran were placed second while Cabrese, along with Jockey K. Sanjeewan finished in third. Crimson Quest together with Jockey S. Suganathan grabbed the Daily Mirror Cup for Class 4 Handicaps which was next in line. Torpedo finished in second place after putting up a rampant display together with Jockey A. Vishwanath while Vigorous and Jockey Ravi Kumar chipped in at third. The Media Ministry Challenge Trophy for Class 2 Handicap horses was next in line and Kingston Town, managed to emerge victorious together with Jockey Imran Khan, ahead of Celestial Fire and Jockey A. Vishwanath, who had to settle for second place.

Alcazaba claimed yet another victory in the history of the races as it thundered its way to emerge victorious in the much anticipated Selvaratnam Challenge Trophy for Class 1 horses. The horse, together with jockey Aneel Kolltur, overcame tough competition from rivals Charlemagne and Jockey A. Vishwanath, who ended up on second place while Meharan and Imran Khan were placed third. The rains poured down just after the conclusion of the race with three more races going unraced. Due to safety reasons, the race day was called off by the organisers, which disappointed the ardent fans. The next races are scheduled for April 16, 2017 which is bound to be packed with much excitement. PIX BY KITHSIRI DE MEL