Prize money of over Rs.80 lakh at stake

The eagerly awaited Mysore Derby-2019 (Grade I) will be held at the Mysore Race Course (MRC) tomorrow (Oct.20). The Derby has already created a buzz among the racing enthusiasts as it features some of the best horses from stud farms across the country.

This year, the Committee led by Mysore Race Club Chairman Dr. N. Nithyanand Rao, has been successful in roping Catalyst Properties and AVR Group to sponsor the Mysore Derby.

Anjan Rangaraj, Chairman and Managing Director, Catalyst Properties, who is a racing enthusiast for the past decade, told SOM that his company was involved in promoting sporting activities and said that he was very happy to be sponsoring ‘Mysore Derby’ for the first time.

It may be recalled that Catalyst Properties has also sponsored the Bangalore Winter Derby for two years in a row which is coined as ‘Catalyst Properties Bangalore Derby.’

The other sponsor, Bengaluru-based AVR Group, is owned by Arvind Venkatesh Reddy, the Principal Owner of ‘Ballari Tuskers,’ a Karnataka Premier League (KPL) franchise, who is also into hospitality and entertainment businesses.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Dr. Nithyanand Rao said that MRC was all geared up to host the most awaited ‘Mysore Derby – 2019’ tomorrow and hoped that the rain do not play a spoilsport.

Tomorrow’s Derby will be for a distance of 2,000 mts and will feature three-year-old Indian horses. Being the richest race of the Mysore Racing Calendar, the event is offering a total prize money of over Rs.80 lakh where the winner walks away with prize money of over Rs.40 lakh.

A total of seven horses will be taking part in tomorrow’s Derby that will be held at 4 pm. Out of the seven horses, one is a filly (young female horse) and the rest are colts (young male horse under four years of age). This will be a competitive race with a cream of Indian Horses participating. Although there are seven runners, all eyes will be on ‘Cosmic Ray,’ the highest rated three-year-old filly owned by United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders Ltd., trained by S.S. Attaollahi and to be ridden by Jockey Suraj Narredu. The second favourite is ‘Malwa,’ a three-year-old colt, owned by Marthand Singh Mahindra and Rina Mahindra. This horse is also trained by S.S. Attaollahi and will be ridden by C.S. Jodha. There is also a chance for ‘Square the Circle,’ also a three-year-old colt, owned by Zahid Qureshi, Gamini Jayaratne and N. Krishnamurthy, trained by Mohd. Sajid Qureshi and ridden by A. Imran Khan. The other horses taking part include ‘Alexander Burnes’, ‘Southern Ruler’, ‘Star Cavalry’ and ‘Streaming Gold’.

Like every year, MRC has also organised ‘Free Contest of Skill’ contest for guessing first three winning horses, for which it has announced Maruti Alto 800 as the first prize, four Bajaj CT 100 Bikes as second prize and 25 Titan Gift vouchers as consolation prize.

Prizes have also been announced for Best Dressed Lady and Best Dressed Gentleman.