THE 39TH INDIAN TURF INVITATION CUP

In what must be one of the great ironies of the sport, Dr MAM Ramaswamy, India's most celebrated Race Horse owner, failed yet again to win the all-important Invitation Cup (2,400 metres) on hometurf - Chennai. He has won over 300 classics, a racing record, and has also won the Invitation Cup five times at other centres in the country. But victory on hometurf eluded him at the 39th Indian Turf Invitation Cup (the ninth time its being hosted by the Madras Race Club).

It was Vijay Mallya's Mumbai Derby winner - Storm Again with Jockey Pesi Shroff, that got ahead and stayed ahead to emerge clear winner. Dr Ramaswamy's tongue-in-cheek remark at the awards ceremony seemed to sum it up: "Most times, I have been used to collecting trophies from my friend Vijay Mallaya. Its good to give one away to him myself."

At the awards ceremony Dr Ramaswamy was presented the Hall Of Fame award, Darius R. Byramji the Champion Trainer award and Pesi Shroff the Champion Jockey award. For Shroff, this is his seventh Invitation Cup win.

In an earlier race, Jockey Aslam Kader rode Darius Byramji-trained filly Adamile to victory in the A V Thomas Super Mile Cup. On the first day of the Invitation weekend, Symphony of Fire (with Jockey Appu) made a last minute dash to beat the favourite - Simply Noble in the Sprinter's Cup and Aslam Kader spurred Alameda to victory in the Stayer's Cup. For the first time, the races on both days were telecast live. Another 'first' was that all races over the two days, had sponsors, despite there being no title sponsor.

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