Lady In Lace weaves mystical story at Pune - By Usman Rangeela I Mirror
Posted on - 19 Oct 2017
Lady In Lace weaves mystical story at Pune
By Usman Rangeela
Mirror
In an era when horse-racing is considered more of a gambling avenue rather than a noble sport and viewed with suspicion all around, the Kingfisher Ultra Pune Derby day was a celebration of sorts for all its stakeholders right from the Derby winning filly to the loyal punter who still frequents the Royal Western India Turf Club's tote windows.
Memorable scenes were witnessed when veteran horse-trainers CD Katrak and Dallas Todywalla were felicitated for reaching individual milestones having saddled 1000 and 1500 winners during their illustrious careers. But what made the crowd ecstatic was the victory of Lady In Lace, the spritely young filly from Hyderabad.
The bay filly arrived in Pune with a big reputation as she had recently made the racing world sit up and take notice of her immense talent, a glimpse of which she had on display when taming Pesi Shroff trained favourite Manifold at Malakpet.She later went down gallantly to Prevalent Force, in the Deccan Derby on October 2.
Despite her reputation, none reckoned that Lady In Lace would treat her opponents with sheer contempt. The filly tackled the rain-soaked track with utmost ease and won the hearts of the race-goers as she raced in solitary splendour to claim the rich Derby purse.
No wonder Lady In Lace was cheered lustily by the Pune crowd irrespective of whether they had bet on her victory or not. Indeed a fairy-tale ending to her Pune trip.
Twist and turns
Her trainer, KSV Prasad Raju, had a fascinating story to tell about Lady In Lace, who was foaled at the Punjab-based Tohana Stud Farm in 2014. She was sired by an Irish stallion named Chinese Whispers and was out of a mare called Sea Spray.
Raju bought the filly after a chance meeting with breeder Randhir Singh at Pune in February 2015, when the latter insisted that they conduct business. Raju bought Lady In Lace from Singh after he promised him not only a “nice“ yearling but a good bargain too.
So far so good but Raju got a mighty scare at the first sight of the filly when she arrived at Hyderabad. Raju discovered that she her forelegs were “upright.“ But the breeder allayed his fears and told the nervous trainer not to fret as the filly would be fine soon.
Lady In Lace started her career in last November kept amazing her trainer each time she ran till her journey to Pune and the rest, as they say, is history. Interestingly, Raju almost sold Lady In Lace on two occasions; first received an offer from Rajesh Narredu and later from a top Pune-based stud-farm owner.Fortunately for Raju, both bidders didn't match the price he expected.
Scripting success
There was overwhelming public response for RWITC's maiden “Quinella ka Dhamaka“ contest with a jaw-dropping 700 percent increase in the collection.
Seventy-year old Haeem Biwadkhar, an architect and avid race-goer from Mumbai Central, made a trip to Pune to watch the Derby and found lady-luck smiling on him. He invested Rs 250 on the Quinella and hit the twolakh rupee jackpot.
Now that the RWITC administration has learned a lesson in successfully marketing tote-betting schemes to race-goers, it is already searching for a new strategy which can help script another tote-linked success story.
