Three RTC racedays in March and April
The fashion boutiques in Sri Lanka are abuzz with ladies selecting their finery with colourful dresses and matching fascinators to attend the Royal Turf Club (RTC) Horse Racing Festival that commences next Sunday.
These days there is plenty of action on the picturesque Nuwara Eliya racecourse as 50 thoroughbred horses are in training for the three race days.
The horse racing season will be heralded by the running of the RTC Premier Cup on March 8, followed by the RTC Magic Million Cup on April 5 and culminating in the running of the 2020 RTC Governor’s Cup on Wednesday April 15. The five races will be commence at 10.30am each day.
Trainers and riders need to be aware that the RTC will have two Stipendiary Stewards with more experience than most race clubs in India with Cyrus Madan and Wayne Wood. Madan, will the Chairman of Stipendiary Stewards and is expected to join in the operational work within the next few days. Wood is already well entrenched in Nuwara Eliya, in the CEO’s office on course, attending to administration functions, supervising track work and overseeing the preparation of the racing surface and repairs being carried out.
Following the Premier Cup in March, RTC will host two mega events during April, ideally treating the local and foreign holiday makers in Nuwara Eliya during the festival season to first class horse racing. Along with local riders there will be well known riders from India displaying their skills in the saddle.
The two mega events planned during the April Holidays are the RTC Magic Million Cup over 1,600 metres on April 5 and the RTC Governor’s Cup over 1,800 metres on April 15, a day after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
The RTC is already negotiating with several of its international counterparts to field horses and jockeys for the upcoming three race days at Nuwara Eliya Racecourse, situated 6129 feet above sea level. Few may know that Nuwara Eliya racecourse is listed among the top 100 horse racing courses in the world, according to the latest edition of ‘Remarkable Racecourses’ by Tom Peacock.
The March Raceday will be important for horses, jockeys as well as the owners as much as for the spectators, in gearing up for the forthcoming two important events in April. The RTC has conducted professional horseracing events during the past four years while gaining global attention. So far, the RTC has managed to earn recognition from the horseracing authorities of India, South Korea and the latest, Japan.