Invitation weekend races a tribute to MAM Ramasamy

The Sprinters and Stayers Cup races will be held on Saturday and the Invitation Cup on Sunday as the Madras Race Club has given finishing touches to the course.

R Ramakrishnan, the chairman of MRC, put it aptly when he said his “boss” MAM was excited about the Invitation race being held in Chennai and allocated the required funds straightaway when he knew the turf was ready to host the mega event. 

“He (MAM) was the only person whom I used to address as boss,” said Ramakrishnan as he explained the volume of work that has gone into getting the track ready for the Invitation weekend.

“MRC will get the chance to host another Invitation only in 2012 as there are six turfs now with the addition of Mysore,” added Ramakrishnan before the bookmakers took over giving odds. 

There are 213 horse in the fray over 16 races of which 106 are outstation horses. In all, 35 trainers and 29 jockeys are also outsiders.

The Sprinters’ Cup has a field of 18 horses, while 11 including the Hyderabad Derbywinner King Charles are in the fray for the stamina sapping Stayers Cup to be run over a distance of 3000 metres. 

The Altaf Hussain-trained Dancing Prances and the Pesi Shroff-trained Adam enjoy the top billing from the bookmakers in the Sprinters Cup, while the Bangalore challengers Agostini and Toroloco and the Hyderabad main hopes King Charles and Aventus are likely to dominate the finish in the Stayers’ Cup. 

For the much-awaited Invitation Cup, the toast of the weekend, Quasar and local star Be Safe will be the main attractions but Indian Derby winner Desert God seems to have equally strong credentials to pull off a coup.