That the favourite 'Salazaar' was ridden to a confident victory in the picturesque Chennai racecourse by Trevor Patel on the Pongal Day in front of a reasonably decent crowd - and tens of hundreds at IVB centres across the country - augurs well for the future of Guindy Racecourse.

I am told a majority of the crowd had just come to spend time around on the holiday and enjoyed playing 'Salazaar' to their excitement.

Another absorbing factor is A Imran Khan's double. This boy had grown up in this racecourse and his two winners against the likes of Y Srinath, Sraj Narredu & S John - besides Trevor - must have created a lot of enthusiasm to the punters, I beleive. There were days when a section of the crowd used to blindly back any mount ridden by Imran Khan.

What is happening in Chennai now is incredible and by the next season I think many new stables can be seen here, what with the stake money proving quite attractive, and much more than many other centers offer.

Ramakrishnan Sir, all of us are taking note of your terrific services in helping Guindy to regain its lost glory. And that's bound to happen sooner than later and, if any, the Derby Day races are only a clear pointer towards that.