Invitation Cup weekend at Mysore to feature five Grade-1 races and high-stakes matchups on October 24

The Mysore Race Club will stage the Invitation Cup weekend on Saturday, October 24, with five Grade-1 and one Grade-2 race scheduled across a 48-hour programme. The card includes three Grade-1 contests on Saturday, headlined by the Zavaray Poonawalla Sprinters’ Cup where Time And Tide faces younger rivals Moneybags and Encino.

The club has described the weekend as a watershed for the country’s youngest Turf Authority, assembling five Grade-1 events and a Grade-2 in two days. A comparable concentrated Grade-1 line-up last occurred in December 2019, when the RWITC hosted five Grade-1 races, one Grade-2 and one Grade-3 in a single afternoon. Saturday’s three Grade-1 races are regarded as having open outlooks.

In the Zavaray Poonawalla Sprinters’ Cup, six-year-old champion sprinter Time And Tide bids for a third consecutive Sprinters crown, a feat not achieved since the race began in 1979. He will be opposed chiefly by two four-year-olds, Moneybags and Encino; Moneybags carries a home advantage and arrives on a six-race winning streak. The coverage notes a sentimental preference for Time And Tide, but states that form appears to favour Moneybags and asks whether youth can stem the tide.

The Zavaray S. Poonawalla Mysore Derby presents a different challenge: three-year-olds dominate the 11-strong field but only three have previously raced beyond 2000 metres and none has won at the longer trip. Stud Poker, described as a got-abroad gelding and the winner of the Mysore 2000 Guineas, tackles the distance for the first time and is expected to have first call. Fillies Royal Legacy and Mahogany are named as possible close challengers.

With defending champion Ramiel withdrawn, the Zavaray Poonawalla Stayers’ Cup over 3000 metres is expected to be contested primarily by Red Bishop and 2024 winner Dyf. Red Bishop is the only four-year-old in the field, is identified as the Indian St. Leger winner and is reported to be in good form. The preview frames the race as age against experience and notes that Red Bishop will be taking on one of the country’s established stayers.

The weekend’s races, including the awards night, will be broadcast live and available free of charge on YouTube and on the Mysore Race Club website. The broadcast is being arranged by Zavaray S. Poonawalla in association with Mysore Race Club, allowing remote viewers to follow the Invitation Cup weekend action.