FILLIES TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT - By Vivek Jain I TNN
Posted on - 01 Feb 2012
FILLIES TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
By Vivek Jain I TNN
Bring out your most stunning outfits. The biggest race day of the year is here. The Mc-Dowell Signature Premier Indian Derby, with the word premier appropriately prefixed so the race runs under its new avatar, has broken records even before the 13-horse field gets flagged off before a rapturous near-30,000 crowd expected on DDay. To say that a sea of humanity will descend on our turf, and that all roads will lead to Mahalaxmi, is to state the obvious.
At the turn of the decade, the prize money for the mega race was about Rs 75 lakh. At the 70th running on Sunday, the total stakes of Rs 2.61 crores not only represent a quantum jump of over 350% in 10 years, but also makes the Blue Riband of the Indian turf one of India’s biggest lifestyle sporting events.
One of Mumbai’s biggest crowd-pullers, if not the biggest, it attracts the social elite and the hoi polloi in equal measure.The weekend packs in unmatched grandeur with top class racing, style and haute couture on a mammoth scale, where it is de rigeur to see and be seen!
Quite clearly, the biggest weekend in Indian racing history is set to scale new highs. In deference to the city’s unpredictable weather, already up a few notches from the rare winter spell, a 16,000 sq ft air-conditioned hangar, a recent import by the RWITC from Germany, will dominate the landscape.
Inside, the visitors will be regaled to the music of Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and the Bee Gees in tribute performances. The renowned Adam Saaks will muster up custom couture in a flash and Sheketak will mesmerise in an eclectic mix of dance, music and multimedia. And for not-the-so-musically-inclined, a veritable Carnival bazaar will sweep the hangar to keep all in fine spirits. And as racing is all about luck and skill, a combination of the two can win a spanking new Mercedez Benz to drive home in a simple contest, often won by first-timers!
The fillies will be in the spotlight, and a filly by the same name will be the one on which the arc lights will be focussed on. With a stupendous record behind her, she joins Hills and Stars and Smashing, owned by the sponsor Dr Vijay Mallya, to lead the onslaught of the fairer sex.
All three classic winners have a range of colts to contend with, and it is a virtual ‘Him vs Her’ contest in this year’s Derby. Unlike the Jacqueline vs Becket fight of two years ago, or Moonlight Romance vs Ocean and Beyond of last year, this year’s edition is no twohorse race, and a surprise from the rest of the pack, will be no surprise! It will be one of the most competitive Derbies in years.
The RWITC has pulled out all the stops to make it the biggest, boldest and most heavily promoted Derby in history. A media blitz topped off by the R1 telecast on Ten Sports, live streaming on two racing websites, contests and promos on Facebook and Twitter, e-mail bursts on the Club’s digital newsletter Hoof Print, RFID technology to contemporise the event, lead-up spectacles such as ‘Breakfast with Champions’ and a Post Position Draw evening, it has all the makings of a real humdinger of a weekend.
It will be a day of hats and skirts, flowery shirts under linen jackets, where the off-track action will be equal match to the thunder of hooves of magnificent glistening equine bodies on the emerald green turf.
This, we hope will be a day in tribute to our relentless zeal and effort to showcase the glory and might of the sport on our unmatched premises in undiluted splendour.
