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INVITATION CUP BREAKS NEW GROUND

By Major Srinivas Nargolkar (Retd.) | 19 Feb 2020 |


Mysore Racing

Racing started in Mysore in the last decade of the nineteenth century. during the reign of H.H. Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar. He died soon after and was succeeded by H.H. Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar who was a minor at the time of his father's death. Racing, however, continued intermittently  and was conducted in the area of Kabbe Katta Bungalow. On coming of age in 1904, Maharaja Krishnaraja  Wodeyar got full ruling powers. He was interested in racing and owned many horses himself. The racing in Mysore, now more regular, suffered an interregnum, possibly on account of World War I.

It was revived exactly a hundred years ago in 1920 and the race course was shifted to its present location, about ten kilometres due east of the old site. There has been no break in a hundred years and it is hence most appropriate that the centenary is celebrated with the first scheduling of the Invitation Cup week-end.

In the early days, after Bangalore's Summer Season was over, horses moved to Mysore, Pune, Calcutta and Secunderabad for monsoon racing. Many Western India trainers used to take their strings to Mysore and it is on record that even A.L.J. Talib and Rustomjee Byramjee, Jnr -- Rashid Byramji's father -- saddled horses at the most southern race course in India. In the mid-1980s, summer racing started at Mysore to coincide with Bangalore. While Bangalore raced on week-ends, Mysore conducted the sport on Wednesdays. About a decade later, Mysore held its first Winter Meeting. So now there is racing at Mysore throughout the year. Of the three Meetings, Mysore's Monsoon Season -- often referred to as Mysore "Regular" -- provides the best racing. That is when the three Mysore Classics, first instituted in 1974, are contested. To Sweet Memories goes the honour of being the first Classic winner at Mysore.

Royal Patronage

When the royal houses in India began to take to racing late in the nineteenth century, Mysore was not in the forefront. The young Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar was a founder member and patron of the Mysore Race Club. He was only 31 years of age when he went to Calcutta and was saw Metallic win the Viceroys' Cup. His ambition to enter racing was stoked but four days later he passed away suddenly following an attack of diptheria. Three years later, the Viceroy's Cup was annexed by Leonidas, owned by his son-in-law Lt. Col. J. Desraj Urs.

Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar brought regularity to Mysore racing, moved the race course to its present site and owned horses but with only modest success as an owner. He was succeeded by his nephew Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar who, it would appear, was  not overly fond of the sport. His son, Maharaja Srikantadatta Wodeyar, however, was very interested. He came into racing as an owner in a fairly big way in 1970s and with Zareer Darashah as his trainer, enjoyed a very successful period early on. He also established the Regency Stud.  The initial ardour did not last and he gradually drifted out of the game.

If the royal patronage on the racing side was limited and sporadic, it was more sustained on the breeding front. The fall of Tipu Sultan at the Battle of Seringapatnam and the subsequent restoration of the Wodeyar dynasty meant that Tipu Sultan's stud farm at Kunigal was now in royal hands. Tipu Sultan bred mostly horses for his cavalry at Kunigal but it is the first known instance in India of organised breeding, predating the East India Company's establishment of a stud at Pusa in Bihar. Kunigal continued to be source of horses for Mysore State's lancers and mounted police but the focus began to shift gradually to Thoroughbreds. The St. Leger winner Pero Gomez is said to have stood at Kunigal in Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar's time.   

Many people will not be aware that two races --  Poona Country-Bred Derby (7 furlongs) and Poona Country-Bred St. Leger (1 1/4 miles) --  were contested from 1919 to 1926  and were the forerunners of the Indian Classics, being meant only for horses born in India. The finishing order in the very first Country-Bred Derby was The Tipster, Submarine, Mountain Apple and Applewood. The remarkable fact of that result was that they were all sons of a stallion called Sugar Apple standing at Kunigal. Ten days later, the Country-Bred St. Leger was run which was won by Mountain Apple with The Tipster, Submarine and Suffona following and once again all four were sired by Sugar Apple.  Sugar Apple (Persimmon - Rosalys by Bend Or) had won a couple of races at Calcutta but what was most eye catching was his pedigree. Persimmon, a son of St. Simon, counted the Epsom Derby, the St. Leger and two Ascot Gold Cups among his seven wins. Sugar Apple himself was a half-brother to the dam of Epsom Oaks winner Rosedrop. Rosedrop later produced the Triple Crown winner Gainsborough. What would a breeder in India today give for a stallion with these antecedents ?

Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar passed away in 1940. That very year, a filly by Hocus Pocus -- winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas and placed third in Irish Derby -- had been born at Kunigal who was subsequently to win the first Indian Oaks under the name Same Again. After Independence, the Kunigal Stud farm was taken over by the Government of Mysore. Bangalore Turf Club managed it for a while before U.R.B.B. acquired it and took to its present eminence.

The Race Course

There are nine race courses currently active in India and it would be no exaggeration to say that the one at Mysore is the most picturesque of them all. While each race course has its attractions, the backdrop of imposing Chamundi Hill and the sylvan area behind the final bend give it a natural beauty that is hard to better. A flat, oval course of a mile and a quarter circumference, it is also the fastest in the country. Currently, the best timings for 1100 m.,1400 m., a mile and 2000 m. in India have been recorded at Mysore. Two new track records are certain during the Invitation Cup week-end. No race over 3000 m. has yet been run at Mysore and hence the Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy Stayers' Cup, Gr.1 winner will be setting the new standard. Also, Beloved Prince's record for 2400 m. -- 2 mins 40.2 secs -- will be very easily improved upon in the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1. Winners of the Bangalore Turf Club Sprinters' Cup, Gr.1 and Maj. P.K. Mehra Super Mile Cup, Gr.1 could turn out to be record breakers as well.

Notable Horses

Mysore may not have witnessed high quality racing often but has been fortunate in seeing some of the best horses race. Three names which immediately spring to mind are Elusive Pimpernel, Continual and Sir Cecil. All three recorded a Classic double at Mysore but while the former went to much further glory, the other two, both unbeaten at the end of the Mysore season, broke down shortly afterwards.

The very first winner of the Mysore Derby, Midnight Cowboy, won the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1 the following year with Chaitanya Chakram, Delage and Elusive Pimpernel following suit later. Another Invitation Cup winner, In The Spotlight, had earlier won the K.R.O.A. Mysore 1000 Guineas, Gr.3. Twelve other Mysore Classic winners have added a winter Derby to the list of their achievements. Two fillies, Birthday Girl and Crown Treasure won all the three Mysore Classics in their years.

PAST THE POST

Mysore, no doubt, has seen some very good horses. Yet, never before has it had the pleasure of seeing so many equine stars within the space of two days as it will on the first week-end next month. There cannot be better celebration of the centenary of the Mysore Race Course. What's more, Mysoreans will have the added incentive of rooting for one of their own -- War Hammer, born less than a hundred kilometres away at the Kunigal Stud Farm -- in the week-end's plum event.