Alcazaba continues winning ways to clinch RTC Selvaratnam Challenge Trophy

Alcazaba continued its winnings ways as the Class 1 thoroughbred galloped splendidly to claim the inaugural RTC Selvaratnam Challenge Trophy at the Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya yesterday. 

The 1,600-metre Class 1 race got off to a start as the fourth contest in a lineup of seven races on Sunday’s race day but eventually had to be the final as the organisers, the Royal Turf Club (RTC), had to reluctantly call off the remaining three races after torrential rain prevented any further proceedings.

Alcazaba, owned by Deepthika Jayakody, continued its dominance after steadily progressing from the start and snatching a win which could have been claimed by Charlemagne, owned by James Mathews. Charlemagne took the lead from the start of the race and maintained it until the final 400 metres of the race when Alcazaba accelerated along the outside stretch.

Even the slight drizzle, which turned into a heavy downpour by the end of the race, was not an obstacle for the winning horse, which was steered across the winning tape by Indian jockey Aneel Kolthur. The winner claimed a cash award of Rs. 1 million in addition to the Selvaratnam Challenge Trophy, which was given away by Chief Guest Gayantha Karunathilaka and Guest of Honour Chavez Selvaratnam, the grandson of renowned trainer Renga Selvaratnam, after whom the trophy was named.

Charlemagne, ridden by A. Vishwanath, had to settle for second place and claimed Rs. 250,000 in prize money. 

Third place was won by Meheran, ridden by Imran Khan and owned by Gamini and Chamari Jayaratne. Apart from the top favourite Alcazaba and the two mysterious runners Charlemagne and Meheran, who made up the top three, Jayakody’s Roswald and Silver Streak, Hasanga Jayaratne’s Atlantus and Chul Bul Pandy, owned by Anura Delgoda, made up the seven in the main race.

Prior to the main race, a high level of excitement was set in the Daily Mirror Cup, a 1,070-metre Class 4 race, which was claimed by Crimson Quest ridden by S. Suganthan. Crimson Quest was nowhere near the head of the pack until the final 100 metres as it cantered past overall leader Torpedo, ridden by A. Vishwanath, and Vigorous, ridden by Ravi Kumar, who had to settle in at second and third respectively.

M. Ishan steered Queen of the Hill to outsmart Airborne II, ridden by S. Dayalan, in a two-way battle to claim the 1,000-metre 3/4 bred race for the RTC Nuwara Eliya Festive Cup. Kingston Town, ridden by Imran Khan, had a close call before it overcame the rest of the field to win the Media Ministry Cup, the 1,600-metre Class 2 race.

Only four races were held out of the seven races lined up for the day as heavy rain prevented the remaining three races from being held. As a result, the Class 3 Blackpool Hotel Cup, Class 5 HNB Grameen Finance Cup and the 1/2 Bred RTC Pony Welfare Raffle Cup were abandoned.     

The April Horseracing Season of RTC will continue with two more races - the Magic Million Cup on 16 April and the RTC Governor’s Cup on 29 April - following yesterday’s race. In addition to these three races, RTC introduced two new features to its setup - a Pony Welfare Raffle Draw and the much anticipated Equine Ambulance.

The Equine Ambulance was kept on standby from yesterday to attend to horses that could have been injured during races. To assist the process, RTC utilised the services of Dr. Jayachandra Balaji, a renowned veterinarian from India. In addition to the continuous projects to uplift the health and living standards of the horses, RTC also came out with a plan to see to the welfare of the ponies, which was initiated yesterday.