The highlight of the Calcutta Cold Weather Season, The Indian Turf Invitation Cup weekend, will be held on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday March 3. It will be a historical event in more ways than one. For the first time in its fifty-year old history The Turf Authority of India has decided to open up the season’s piece de resistance ‘The Invitation Cup’ to horses which are four years old and OVER.  

The key word ofcourse is ‘over’ which effectively means that for the first time in its long history, this great race run over a mile-and-half may be lifted by the same horse more than once. This has been done primarily to inject new life into the race as it will identify beyond any reasonable doubt the ‘Champion Horse’ in the country. One can’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for some of the legends of yesteryear like Squanderer and Elusive Pimpernel who were denied this privilege. 

The terms of this newly framed Invitation Cup are as follows: 

Colts and geldings: 4 year olds   : 55 kgs

5 year olds & over       : 59 kgs 

Fillies and mares will be allowed a sex allowance of 1.5 kg. 

The other major event, The Eveready Calcutta Derby Stakes, sponsored by Eveready Industries Limited, to be run on January 13, will once again carry a hefty winner’s purse as the guaranteed prize money is Rs 1 crore. 

Chairman of RCTC, Mr Deepak Khaitan, was hopeful that off-course totalisators would soon become a reality in the city and selected centres of West Bengal. The first of these could well be Siliguri. “It would be wise to launch ‘live races’ viewing online simultaneously with the off-course totalisators. That way, there would be no fall in tote collection, which has increased by nearly 20 per cent”, he added.  

Mr. Khaitan further said that ‘night racing’ plans have had to be shelved for the time being due to the red tape in the government.  “It may result in a loss for the Club unless the younger generation is wooed into the sport. Sponsors are difficult to come by due to the stigma attached to the sport in this city,” he concluded. 

The season, spread over five months, will comprise 34 race days and will conclude on March 30, 2013.  There are 252 races scheduled to be run during these months, of which 109 will be cup events.

The Club has approximately 590 horses currently in station, comprising 168 two-year-olds and 422 older horses. A further 50 older horses are expected to arrive in station to compete during the season.   

There are 19 ‘A’ licensed trainers. Till date, 10 ‘B’ licenses have been issued to trainers. These are to Pesi Shroff, Shyam S Habbu, J S Dhariwal, I Sait, R.R. Byramji, D. R. Byramji, Pratap Kamath, F Sirajuddin, LVR Deshmukh and Sulaiman Attaollahi. 

Thirty-two jockeys have been issued ‘A licences.  There are also 35 ‘B’ licence holders and 14 apprentice jockeys.  Prominent among the saddle artists to don silks will be Christopher Alford, Shailesh Shinde, Imran Chisty, Suraj Narredu, P S Chouhan and Neeraj Rawal. Former jockey Philip Alford has been appointed as the jockey coach and assistant starter. 

The four-legged star cast will include the likes of Dandified, Silverina, Malpensa, Amaretto, Angel Child, Arabian Prince and Ocean And Beyond. Several outstation challengers are expected for the graded and sweepstakes races. 

The advertised stake money for the entire season is an alluring Rs 11.25 crore, while the trophies and cups are valued at Rs. 25 lakh.   

The classics and other major events scheduled to be run during the season are as under: