RTC successfully conducts Mock Race Day

Jockey L. Dayalan had a perfect field day, winning two out of three races of the Mock Race Day conducted by the Royal Turf Club (RTC) at the Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya.

 The Mock Race Day was conducted by the RTC after a lapse of seven months with the pandemic and bad weather preventing events that were lined up for 2021.

Last week’s event was a welcome sign for horse racing as well as all stakeholders involved with the glamorous and prestigious sport in Sri Lanka. All races were conducted with a distance of 1400 metres and were the perfect outing anticipated not only by the horses and jockeys but also the horse race lovers who turned out to witness the three-race events.

Jockey Dayalan would have completed the day with a hat-trick, but he was warded off by Krabi with P. Dinesh up, who made a surprising gallop in the final couple of furlongs to snatch a thrilling win from Zulu Fantasy and Dayalan, who was comfortably leading the pack of five runners from the start. Go Green with jockey S. Sanjay finished third, but was way behind the top two finishers, approximately by six lengths.

The undisputed chestnut mare owned by Edwards Stables, popularly known as ‘The Queen of Nuwara Eliya’, Alcazaba, showed that she has more power in stock, giving Dayalan’s first win of the day. It was an easy win, as Alcazaba outclassed Carlton ridden by Yogaraj, who was leading from the start. Alcazaba, as she is famously known for her style of running, elevated the speed from the final stretch and took over from Carton to take the winning post by almost 12 lengths. Spirited Touch, ridden by Ravi Kumar, took the third position.

An identical finish as the first race was witnessed in the third and final race, as Starmont, again with Dayalan up, snatched a possible win of Star Scholar, ridden by P. Dinesh. Star Scholar was leading from the moment of take-off and led towards the final two furlongs before Starmont and Dayalan made an approach from right outside to take a thrilling win by a length and a half. Glittering, ridden by P. Dinesh made a late start but galloped gallantly to finish third.

With the success of the Mock Race Day, RTC confirmed that it will hold a race day on 19 March, in honour of Rashid R. Byramji, a legendary trainer from India, who had contributed immensely to the present upgrades and successes of the Nuwara Eliya based RTC.

However, the main attraction as always will be the RTC Horse Racing Festival, which will include three race days during the month of April. The RTC Magic Million Cup will take place on 3 April, followed by the prestigious RTC Governor’s Cup on 15 April. A new event will be added from this year to the holiday season’s racing activities with the inclusion of the inaugural RTC Commander’s Cup, scheduled for 23 April and conducted in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Army.

Results,

 Race 1:

1: Krabi (Dinesh)

2: Zulu Fantasy (L. Dayalan)

3: Go Green (S. Sanjay)

 Race 2:

1: Alcazaba (Dayalan)

2: Carlton (Yogaraj)

3: Spirited Touch (Ravi Kumar)

Race 3:

1: Starmont (Dayalan)

2: Star Scholar (Yogaraj)

3: Glittering (P. Dinesh)