The grand stand at the Madras Race Club is spruced in preparation for the Invitation Cup races to be held over the weekend. King Charles, who won the 2000 Guineas and the Derby at Malakpet will be hoping the pull in weights will tell in the long race.The leading contenders for this year’s top sprint prize seem to be Adam, Dancing Prances and Dancing Phoenix.The winner of a Bangalore Derby in his time, the 6-y-0 Agostini won the Queen Elizabeth Nylon Rollers Manufacturers Cup (2800m) in his last start to stress his staying prowess. The leading trio, plus Brahmachari, placed in the Dr SC Jain Sprinters Championship, which can be considered a good index of the capability and speed of the contenders. If in the mood, old classic winners like Tintinnabulation, Toro-loco and even Rodeo who won the only 3200m race still being run in the country (Suresh Mahindra Trophy) can brighten up the finish.K.— E. An upset is never ruled out in this race in which a bolt from the blue has been known to strike on quite a few occasions. Pesi Shroff sounded confident about his sparingly raced Adam. To decide the fastest horse in the country as well as the doughtiest stayer of the year on the same day is a bit like running the 100 metres and the marathon in one day at the Olympics. The odds are so generous in their spread across the fields in the 8-race Saturday card that the punters and the patrons alike can enjoy the prospect of highly competitive races in India’s oldest racecourse after 11 years. Dancing Phoenix, Satellite and Vijay Vidatha will all be in the fighting line for the `30 lakh prize. The Shroff-trained Myrtlewood is in the super mile race and appears a cinch while the Sprinters Cup has a number of fast horses who are finishers rather than frontrunners, which means a thrilling finish is in the offing.. Adam finished so strongly there in the Mumbai straight that he can be considered the favourite here to down Dancing Prances who just prevailed in that race. It would be interesting to see if the younger horse can upset the applecart of the seasoned campaigners like Agostini, who will probably start out as a 3 to 1 first favourite.Such a grand double is unlikely this weekend although at least two runners will run in both races.The Stayers Cup, wisely run in the later part of the evening, would still be a gruelling test in the prevailing conditions in early March. A versatile seven-furlonger is more likely to take such a Sprinters Cup where those kept off the early pace have the ability to finish faster than the frontrunners in the straight. There is no Indiscretion in the field which can go from gate to post while showing her back all the way to all rivals.The kind of ante-post prices being put up for the weekend races points to the return of big time racing to Guindy. Sanjay Adam, Dancing Prances in test of speed at Chennai courseThe romance of racing might just be returning to the historic Guindy race course over the Invitation Cup weekend (March 5 and 6). What such programming does in racing, however, is to give game horses the chance of going for the double of the Sprinters Cup on Saturday and the Golden Mile on Sunday, which the legendary trainer Rashid Byramji did with Bergamo to start a trend. There are some stout stayers in the field of 11 of whom only one is a 4-year-old — King Charles.The prize could well go to one of them on Saturday with Adam drawn better at gate 7 while Dancing Prances has to come out of gate 15 in a field of 18 runners

The event for Champions with Disability will begin at 7.. One train will leave Kalyan at 3 am to reach CST at 4.30 am to 5 am on the race day.35 am from CST and finish near Gate No. The race will be flagged off at 5. Both these races will finish at CST. Meanwhile, FREE fee shuttle service for half-marathon runners wearing valid bib numbers is available from Currey Road station on the Central Railway and Lower Parel on the Western Railway line. Approximately Rs 70 to 80 lakh per year’s payment is yet to be received from the organisers.The Mumbai Marathon organisers owe the Mumbai police more than Rs 2 crore for providing protection to the event over the last three years.Special trains for runKeeping in mind the increasing number of participants from the Central and Navi Mumbai region, Central Railways will operate two special trains called the ‘Marathon Special’ for the convenience of the runners on Sunday (January 17).40 am from Worli Dairy and then runners will go on to the Sealink and trace the same route back with the Marathon ending at CST.30 am, while the other train will leave Panvel at 1 am to reach CST at 4."This time, a total of 10,000 Mumbai police personnel are being deployed for the security of the Marathon. These buses will operate from 3. Some of them will do patrolling in plain clothes. The 13th edition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon will see a significant change in the route for the Half Marathon. This year’s 21-kilometre run start point will have a more natural route and fewer sharp turns. This time too, the Mumbai police is deploying over 10,000 policemen for the event to be held on January 17. 3 of Azad Maidan. Meanwhile, the Full Marathon will be flagged off at 7. The organising committee hasn’t paid us for three years. The Dream Run will begin at 9 am from CST and finish near Gate No.30 am."DCP Ravindra Shisve said, "It is the responsibility of the organisers to pay the Mumbai Police money for the security of the Marathon. The Senior Citizens Run, will start at CST at 8. 3 of Azad Maidan. A senior official said, "We have been following up with the organisers for many months but till today we have not received a single penny from them.According to sources from Mumbai police, for last three years Mumbai police have not been getting protection money from the organisers." However, when The Asian Age contacted the spokesperson of the Procam International, promoters of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2016, he said, "We are not responsible for Post Cap Suppliers paying money to the Mumbai Police