The magic of the Invitational Carnival returns to Kolkata after 12 long years. The new generation Kolkata’s turfites will know what it had missed out during this period. While a wildcat strike by the RCTC’s workers union, in the year 2000, had forced the turf club to shift the racing bonanza to Bangalore, the subsequent financial problems left, what was once a premier institution in the country, with no other alternative but to opt out of the Invitational cycle.

The new generation of race-goers in Kolkata are all geared up now for the March 10-11 festival of racing which gives them a glimpse of thoroughbreds who are set to engrave their names in the Hall of Fame.

Thoughts go back to the victory of Hovercraft - a local filly - who had conquered the all-conquering Mumbai-challenger Prince Pradeep. It was the year 1964 and the second running of the Indian Turf Invitation Cup. The inaugural Trophy was claimed by Mount Everest, in Mumbai. Hovercraft’s victory meant very little to a teenager like me. Being a novice among the regulars, the mind was more focused on other things and eyes were in search of Mumbai’s cine stars who had come in hordes to cash in on Prince Pradeep’s, brilliant form.

The start of the race, I clearly remember, was greeted with collective chanted ‘Ho.’ Later, it was learnt that it was a mere expression of disappointment after jockey Raghunath, who was riding Prince Pradeep, had lost his left stirrup iron. The rest was history which has been told and retold to many by old timers.

To some, it sounded like a Hindi movie fiction. Nevertheless, the race commentator came into life again after a good part of the race was over, and screamed that Prince Pradeep was going in to the lead. But as I say, seeing is believing, a weakening Prince Pradeep had no answer to Val Faggotter ridden Hovercraft’s challenge in the last 150m or so.

Four years later, in 1967, when the next Invitation Cup happened in Kolkata, another city-horse, Red Regent, had done the trick. And to give another twist to the fiction, the jockey again happened to be Faggotter. Prince Regent, I remember, almost won from the start. There was much excitement in the last furlong of the race when Grand Jury, Mica Empress and Nijinsky came close to the Prince but the Faggotter touch just about managed to keep the opposition at bay.

Teenagers had turned men by the year 1971. Calcutta was dreaming of a hattrick of wins in it’s own backyard. A filly named Royal Challenge had swept aside all the Classics and Mac Galstaun trainee looked invincible in this super-Classic. However, a crowded passage along the rails dashed hopes of the half-money favourite and her jockey, Paul Tulk, while G McGrath was all smiles on the Mumbai-challenger, Bright Hanover. The S.M Shah-trained ward beat his erstwhile western India rival, Spellbound, to the delight of a handful Mumbai-contingent as the ‘quinella’ had paid in excess of Rs 1,600 against an investment of Rs 10. Royal Challenge was third and Tulk sulked.

Captain H.D. ‘Dinky’ Fownes had no inkling that Midnight Cowboy was a champion in the making after the Young Lochinvar-Take Cover colt failed to win a race from his six summer starts in Bangalore. He was a transformed horse in the winter and won the 1975 edition of the Cup. The 7-10 favourite handed a solid drubbing to the south India challenger, Half A Crown.

Calcutta’s honeymoon with the Invitation Cup also ended with the victory of Midnight Cowboy, though the Bangalore based champion, Elusive Pimpernel, owned by the city heavyweight owner, Deepak Khaitan, brought some cheer to the RCTC turfites when he stamped his superiority on his contemporaries to win the 1995 edition of the Invitation Cup, which, incidentally, was the last time the event was held in the city.

The 2007 running of the race is hardly likely to bring much cheer to the local contingent as RCTC’s lone entry, Silver Print, is going to find it near impossible to take on the combined might of Diabolical and Southern Empire.