Day at the Madras Races

       Should have bet on Powder Puff. Ridden by C. Umesh—resplendent in pink and blue silks—Powder Puff caught my fancy. At least, her name caught my fancy.  She was the first horse listed in the first race of the day at the Madras Race Club on Sunday. Just had a hunch. When paraded around an emerald green paddock before the Water Falls Plate, Powder Puff pranced and bucked a bit. And then, she ran away with the 1100 meter turf race. I could have won all of 50 rupees!   

Go, Powder Puff! (Courtesy of Madras Race Club)

 

Powder Puff and her crew (courtesy of Madras Race Club)

  Later, I did bet, tiny amounts, but didn’t win a thing. Nor did my ACJ colleagues Andrew and Nikhil. But we had big fun during a day at the races that culminated with the Guindy Grand Prix and the Original Vel B. Sampath Kumar Memorial Cup.  (Had to turn in our phones, for some strange reason, so we couldn’t take photographs inside.)

  Few came for the early races. No one in the grandstands, except a dead pigeon or two. Pimlico-esque. Most of the action was outside the booths operated by the track, where we placed our mingy bets with touts. Serious players kept a large circular pen ringed by stalls run by bookies. Each stall had its regulars and when the odds came in for each horse, they were scribbled in chalk on a chart for all to see.    Behind me, a man shouted out the odds from other stalls so that bookmakers didn’t stray beyond the general margins. As the odds were posted, men clamored to place their bets; Rs 500 appeared to be the minimum. Lots of commotion and shouting; kind of like being in the pit of a scruffy stock exchange.   

  Outside the bookie den, in posher territory, owners (and probably trainers) dressed in suits and chic saris or Western clothing performed their own dying rituals, advising their jockeys, patting their horses and posing for photos after a win, place or show. 

Pomp and Circumstance (courtesy of Madras Race Club)

  After each race, three day laborers came out and tamped down the sod. Dogs frolicked  around the track. At times, curious music, such as “Morning Mood” by Edvard Grieg,  came  over the sound system.  In a section called “Racing Incidents,” the Rs. 20 race program reported infractions by jockeys and unpredictable moves by their mounts.    A jockey named Saddam Hussain was fined Rs. 5000 for “the improper use of the whip.” A horse named Betty Boop “jumped awkwardly ‘in’ and lost a length at the start.”    Turnout grew throughout the afternoon, but the grandstands never filled. Most fans stayed close to their bookies and watched the races live on video screens while also keeping their eye on the broadcast of the races in Bombay.