RTC Nuwara Eliya Horse Racing Festival begins

The much awaited April racing festival of the Royal Turf Club kicked off the Nuwara Eliya season with Minister of Plantations Navin Dissanayake, Dr. Lanka Dissanayake, the  Mayor of Nuwara Eliya Mahinda Dodampegamage and his wife Pushpika Dodampegamage as the chief guests of this exciting event. 

The beautifully renovated Nuwara Eliya racecourse under the guidance of the RTC created an unforgettable event with edge-of-the-seat race thrills and incredible music from renowned drummers Naadro and the popular band Flame. Seven races were successfully run in front of a captivated, full house with owners, jockeys and trainers all paid their well earned stakes. This was a fun filled day out for the whole family with a mini carnival area set up for children as well.

In keeping with the RTC’s position on integrity in racing, four overseas independent officials held the key positions in the judges box, namely Cyrus Maden , the starter Rohith Chandra , and Stipendiary Stewards Wayne Wood and Sinclair Marshall . President of the newly formed Royal Turf Club Nuwara Eliya , Suranjith Premadasa said that these steps were taken in a bid to ensure fair play and bring back the prestige, honour and glamour that racing is known for. The first race commenced at 10 30 a.m. at the redeveloped Nuwara Eliya Race Course and anti-doping procedures were strictly followed with horses thoroughly checked. The RTC Horse Racing festival was live broadcast to over 1 million viewers on Rupavahini.

The RTC Prestige Cup, Class 1 handicap 1400M with a purse of Rs. 585,000 plus a trophy,  the most awaited race of the day, was won by  Alcazaba owned by Deepthika Jayakody, ridden by Jockey S.D. Mahesh and trained by S.P.A Raju. It was a thrilling  photo finish with Spearhead owned by the Rienzie Edwards coming in second and  Atlantas in at third. 

Deepthika Jayakody’s horse Sandstorm ridden by S.D. Mahesh and trained by S.P.A Raju also won one of the main races the  Ministry of Plantation Industries Cup Class two Handicap 1600M with a purse of Rs. 482,500 plus a trophy. Coming in second were Sussex Downs owned by Nadeera Madugalle and Ice Mint in third, owned by Isira Dasanayake.

The first race run at 10.30 was the Dashmesh Stud Farm Cup (2nd Div) Class 3 & 4 Stakes 1200M which was won by Icelandic, owned by Hasanga Jayaratne with Deepthika Jayakody’s horse Supreme coming in a close second and Perfect running in at third place.

The Sporting Times Cup (1st Div) Class 3 & 4 stakes 1200m which was the second race run  was won by Indian Epic owned by Isira Dasanayake with Don Hasa owned by the Gamini Jayaratnes coming in second and Crimson Quest coming in third. Race three was the Blackpool Hotel Trophy Class 5 Handicap 1200M won by Christmas Cake owned by A.N. Amarapura & J.R. Irugal Bandara. In second place Stock Well owned by Isira Dissanayake and Cosmopolitan in third owned by Anuka Soza.

The RTC Festival cup was race 6, the 3/4 bred Handicap 1200M was won by Legasi owned by Navin Madawa Bandara, followed by Airborne in second place owned by  Ajantha DeSoyza and Queen of the Hill owned by R.M.C.K Rajapakse.

The final race of the day the RTC Alpine Hotel Cup 1/2 bred Handicap 1000M was won by City Shot owned by S. Laganathan with Reabath in second owned by Vasanthi stables and Arundathi  owned by S. Periyasam in third.  The richest race to ever run in Sri Lanka is on the 16th of April and is the prestigious Kunigal Stud Million championship race, the biggest of the season that has an incredible purse distribution of Rs. 1.75 million. The Racing festival concludes with the final two events on the 23rd and 30th of April.  The revival of the Nuwara Eliya racecourse and the sport of horse racing have generated much needed employment both directly and indirectly for over two hundred people and is a boost for sports tourism in Sri Lanka.