Silver spurs and super stallions – book your corner now
View(s):142nd Governor’s Cup at Nuwara Eliya
By Naushad Amit
The Jayaratne Stables will be definitely eyeing for a hat-trick at the prestigious Governor’s Cup with their lucky horse, Café Coffee as the meet will be held for the 142nd occasion at the Race Course in Nuwara Eliya tomorrow.
The proceedings of the day are expected to begin from 10.00am with many events to associate with.
Six Thoroughbred Class I stallions will vie for honours at the 142nd Governor’s Cup including title defender Cafe Coffee. - Pic courtesy of SLTC
Café Coffee owned by Nishara Jayaratne has won the Governor’s Cup in the past two years and this time round should be a better contender to defend the title for a second time.
The six-horse Thoroughbred Class I event promises to be a still battle among the most valiant stallions from the Jayaratne, Dassanayake and Delgoda stables.
The favourite of the nine furlong race will be unmistakably Café Coffee, which will be ridden by new jockey, Melvyn Maseyk, who will don a luminous green with cerise dotted jacket and a luminous green cap.
The 11-year-old mare trained by Sridhar Selvarathnam has won its previous two races with ease while finishing its last outing at fourth. Among the remaining five contenders runs Spark of Gold owned by Anura Delgoda and ridden by K. Ganesh who will wear a gold coloured jacket with blue cross sashes and a cap with the similar design.
Spark of Gold is also trained by Selvarathnam. During its past three races the stallion has improved rapidly indicating to be a threat to the title defender. It was placed at fourth and second in its previous two races before recording a timely win in its final appearance days prior to the main event.
Mr. Majestic, one of the two mares owned by I. Dassanayake will be another contender to watch. The stallion which was placed second in its last three outings will be ridden by Saddam Iqbal who will be wearing a full carbon blue jacket and a cap as S.D. Lalith trains the horses of the Dassanayake stable.
Enchantment owned by Hasanga Jayaratne is a stallion with a good track record. Experienced jockey M.D. Shoaib will wear a jacket of blue with an orange stripe to make sure the stallion trained by Selvarathnam creates an upset in the race. Enchantment was placed second, first and third in its three recent races.
Dassanayake’s second horse, Third World, is a veteran of the track but with a lacklustre record in Governor’s Cup. The horse has been placed at fourth twice and at fifth in its three previous races but P.M. Bopanna, who will don a full carbon blue jacket will be adamant to make a difference.
Red Key Point owned by Hasanga Jayaratne will have a point to prove. Despite being a veteran of the course and the event, it is also a mare that has had a poor track record in its recent outings. Red Key Point was placed third twice and sixth in its last three races as M. Mohan Raj wearing the similar outfit as of Shoaib, will be aiming for a huge surprise.
The notable event apart from the prestigious Governor’s Cup will be the Queen’s Cup, a 10 furlong race for the Thoroughbred horses of Class II. The favourite of this race will be Exquisite Delight owned by C.R. Rajapaksa and ridden by M.D. Shoaib. This stallion which was brought down from India a few moths ago is one of the three competitors trained by Sridhar Selvarathnam.
Among other mares expected to create some impact are Eulexite and Stome Ahead ridden respectively by P.M. Bopanna and Saddam Iqbal. Both horses are owned by I. Dassanayake and trained by S.D. Lalith. The remaining two runners in the five-horse battle are High & Mighty and Flaming Arrow who have been in mediocre form off late. High & Mighty is a well recognised mare owned by Anura Delgoda and ridden by Sumith Kumara while Flaming Arrow, owned by Chamari Jayaratne will be ridden by M. Mohan Raj. Both horses are trained by Selvarathnam.
Among other races lined up for the day are Mobitel Cup, a Class III Thoroughbred handicap race of eight furlongs, the Mayor’s Cup, a Class IV Thoroughbred handicap race with eight furlongs, Lemonade Cup, a Class V Thoroughbred handicap race of eight furlongs and the five furlong race for Sri Lankan Horses to wind up the day’s proceedings.
Sponsors for the races will be Entrust Group of Companies, Mackwoods, Mobitel, Sunquick, Elephant House, E.W. Balasuriya, Janashakthi Insurance, Wickremaratne Group, Panasia Power, SriLankan Airlines, Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya and Kingsbury Hotels.
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