Ladies Day at the Royal Turf Club ends on a high!

It was Ladies’ Day Out at the racecourse in Nuwara Eliya, the home of the Royal Turf Club and the cradle of the revival of horse racing in Sri Lanka. The scenic beauty of one of the most picturesque racetracks in the world was complemented by the bevy of beauties who descended onto the lush green turf that abounds in the manicured precincts of the RTC. 

As for the horses and racing, it has been a tough couple of months for the equine residents of the Stables at RTC. Inclement weather, unseasonal rain and torrents that would virtually make the ground and underfoot conditions unfit to train on, adversely affected the fitness levels of most of the racehorses and that has contributed in a huge way to the number that were actually able to race. 

The thoroughbred is the ultimate athlete and without a proper training schedule it’s impossible to be fit. Thanks to the weather there have been innumerable interruptions and that is what has prevented a number of horses from being fit enough to be declared to start in a race. 

However the show has to go on and with that in mind the RTC managed to put together a Five Race Card.

The first race of the day The Lady McCallum Cup for three quarter Sri Lankan bred saw the bottom weighted Carbrese waltz away to an effortless victory. Owned by the effervescent and stylish Deepthika Jayakody, Carbrese was trained by S.P.A. Raju and ridden with aplomb by K. Sanjeevan. The RTC Ladies Day Cup turned out to be a one horse race as the bay seven-year-old gelding Icelandic virtually put the opposition on ice as he won by a widening margin at the finish. Owned by Hasanga Jayaratne, Icelandic was trained by S.V. Madialagan and ridden by S. Suganathan who rode a well-judged race. 

The Plantation Industries Cup which was the feature event of the day looked like it was going to be a close affair when all four runners were within a length of each other at the 600 metre marker. But that was when the front runner Chul Bul Pandey and jockey Christopher decided to take things into their own hands. They quickened and the opposition was left struggling behind a superb burst of acceleration. The winner is owned by Anura Delgoda and trained by S.V. Madialagan. Minister of Plantation Industries Navin Dissanayake did the honours and presented the trophy to the winner.British Deputy High Commissioner Laura Davis graced the occasion and she presented the Queens Autumn Cup to Aruna Delgoda whose five-year-old chestnut horse Torpedo blew up the opposition to give his owner a cup double. Trainer S.V. Madialagan had a field day as Torpedo gave him a hat trick of wins.

Arundhati’s hard fought victory in the Ceylon Ladies Cup brought the curtain down on an entertaining and exciting day. It was only fitting that a mare named Arundhati brought the curtain down on Ladies Day at the Royal Turf Club Nuwara Eliya. 

It has always been said that you can’t compete with the fairer sex when it comes to hogging the limelight and on Saturday 17 September it was the ladies who ruled the roost. Racing is what brings it all together but this time the four-legged equines took the proverbial back seat as the ladies who flocked to the RTC arena made it look like scenes from Royal Ascot or the Melbourne Cup. 

Adding to the charm and the ambience was Natasha Rathnayake rocking the crowd as she belted out one popular number after another and her group of dancers wowed the crowds with some real nifty footwork.

If the fashion on display was not eye catching enough, Catherine of L’Atelier Touché fame set the ramp alight with a truly exhilarating fashion show. The theme was tropical wear and you can bet your last rupee on the fact that a lot of the young ladies who come racing again in October will be sporting the outfits that were displayed. 

All in all it was an exciting day’s racing and you can look forward to more when the RTC stages its next race on 29 October up in Nuwara Eliya.