;..the horses are under starters orders...AND THEY ARE OFF!!!" The smooth voice of the commentator -- the race caller--with the perfectly enunciated vowels would gather speed and excitement as the race progressed. Effortlessly picking out the horses and riders, weaving the narrative from the inside to the outside of the track, taking along the crowd, hopefully clutching their tickets and watching with bated breath.

The Royal Calcutta Turf Club, the largest race venue in India has been a centre of racing since the 1820s and had the same authority as the Jockey Club in England in daysgone by. Over the last century, the RCTC built the elegant stands, stables, and the 2 courses -- which have been delighting Calcutta race-goers ever since.

My father’s interest in horses and racing and his stewardship at RCTC, opened up this world of colour and action to us in the 1970s. On winter Saturday afternoons the members boxes looked like the "Who's Who": of Calcutta society, the ladies in their silks and pearls and the gents equally smartly turned out. Discreetly displaying the bronze badges that set them apart from the day-trippers in the crowded public stands.

The leisurely three-course gourmet lunch at the Criterion, where George David’s sumptuous offerings of caviar, chicken pie and Baked Alaska was the talk of the town. The  elegant stands overlooking the course and the green beyond, to the bronze angel crowning Victoria Memorial.

The stroll to the paddocks to watch the prancing horses and huddle of silk-clad jockeys, anxious owners and calming trainers. Among them the greats Lawrence Fownes, Captain Fownes, Mac Gaulstan and Haskell David. In the ring, the well known faces of perhaps Wally Swinburn or Sandy Barclay or Rae Guest, Jagdish or Shinde, Aslam Kader or Pesi Shroff.  And often our city’s own Richard Alford and Nelson Reuben.

The study of forms in the little booklets, discussing previous performance and pedigree. Odds on favourites. Win or place. Quinella or Jackpot. The helpful runners placing bets and returning with winnings so one didn't have to actually line up at the betting windows. The air of palpable excitement that hung in the air as fortunes were made and lost... the animated and dejected faces, the crescendo of shouts, and above all the sleek muscled horses; so beautiful in action.

The Queens Cup and the 2000 Guineas. The Calcutta Oaks and the Calcutta Derby.

Royal Challenge. Mica Empress. Mossy Bear. Midnight Cowboy. Beauregard. Young Lochinvar. Topmost.  Revelation thundering home in the Invitation Cup. Bergamo winning the Sprinters Cup and the Super Mile. Presided over by the stalwarts of Calcutta- Sir Uday Chand Mahtab, Mr B.M Khaitan, Mr OAV Sen and Mr Pran Prasad, Mr. Pearson Surita and Mr. Sunil Singh Roy.

Some of my favourite memories are of many rainy monsoon afternoons or hazy winter days as the thundering hooves galloped past the Palladian stands, in tandem with our fast beating hearts and flushed faces, to the finish line. And the knowledge that the love of these magnificent beasts and the 'king of sports" is safe in the hands of the next generation, with my brother's colt Trafalgar winning the 2020 Calcutta Derby.

An enduring legacy and a benediction from the icons of the track who have gone before.