Three eventful RTC race-days in March and April

Sri Lanka’s Little England will be awoken to the sound of galloping thoroughbreds this holiday season as nearly 50 thoroughbred horses will be in action during the three main race-days of Royal Turf Club (RTC) beginning from 8 March at the picturesque Racecourse Circuit in Nuwara Eliya.

The horseracing season will be heralded by the RTC Premier Cup set to take place on the second Sunday of March, followed by the RTC Magic Million Cup and RTC Governor’s Cup – both in April.

With the return of Chief Executive Officer Wayne Wood and the appointment of new President Nihara Jayathilake Ratnum, the first female to head an equestrian sports club in the Asian region, RTC is well spiced up to host a triple treat, ending a long hush of events.

With RTC Stipendiary Stewards Chairman Cyrus Madan expected to join in the operational team within the next few days, the only active club to host horseracing events in Sri Lanka in grand scale, hopes to hype up their activities targeting the three races. 

The first race, the RTC Premier Cup, to be held on 8 March, will include at least five different classes with the pinnacle race expected to wind up an eventful day. The race will be important for horses, jockeys as well as the owners as much as for the spectators, in gearing up for the forthcoming two important events in April.

Following the Premier Cup in March, RTC will host two mega events during April, ideally treating the local and foreign holiday makers in Nuwara Eliya during the holiday Season. The two mega events planned during the April holidays are the RTC Magic Million Cup on 5 April and the RTC Governor’s Cup on 15 April, a day after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

The RTC is already negotiating with few of its international counterparts to field horses and jockeys for the upcoming three race-days at Nuwara Eliya Racecourse Circuit, situated 6,129 feet above sea level, which was also has the prestige of being listed among the top 100 horseracing courses in the world, according to the latest edition of ‘Remarkable Racecourses’ by Tom Peacock.

Under the watchful eyes of the higher authorities and the two experts – Wayne Wood and Cyrus Madan – the RTC took things at a time to refurbish the grand stand, the racecourse, a sand course for training purpose, the bund school, the stables and even upgrade the facilities for horses and the workers of the course and stables.

At present the facilities and infrastructure facilities at the Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya are nearing completion of upgrades and with the success of the ‘Mock Race’ held last Sunday, the RTC is highly focused on making the three race-days a memorable one for the horserace lovers.

The RTC has conducted high-scale horseracing events during the past four years while gaining global attention.

So far, the RTC has managed to earn recognition from the horseracing authorities of India, South Korea and the latest, Japan. (RTC Media Unit)