Beachcomber Magazine 05

F inal preparations for the horses in the stables on Rue Shakespeare next to the Champ de Mars racecourse in Port Louis. Just around the corner the jockeys are weighing out in the very select Mauritius Turf Club. The weigh-out judge keeps a close eye on the scales and makes up for any weight difference bet- ween the jockeys and their horses with small lead weights that will be slipped under their saddle. A tour of the paddock watched by a small and elegant audience. A first bugle call, and the agitation is pal- pable. The second call and the owners return to their boxes as the crowd converges on the track. One by one the extremely nervous horses, some wearing blinkers, some even hooded, are led by the grooms onto the warm-up arena before lining up, willingly or less so, in the starting gates. MASTERS OF TIME 1 minute 24 seconds 1/10 seconds over 1,400 metres. That’s the time for the last Duchess of York, one of four classic races that opens the season. From the initial surge in a clanking of metal starting gates that jettison out horses in- toxicated by the sudden space, to the last bend before the final straight, the young thoroughbreds shimmering in the sun fly almost horizontally around the track – their jockeys, tiny commas sus- pended above the horses’ necks. The silks flash by at almost 60 km an hour as the flying pack curves its way from the rope to the out- side. “ The ‘steeds’ still have a wild thing about them. You need to awaken their instinct for flight, get them to run as if they were being chased by a leopard! ” says French jockey Olivier Plaçais, who this season is wearing the renowned electric blue silks and red scarf and cap of the Gujadhur Stables. In the final 200 metres, riding crops swirling, the runners are flat out, while the crowd has become one screaming mass. On the edge of the track and in the boxes, on- lookers and owners, all passionate about the sport, are by turns roo- ted to the spot, petrified and ap- plauding wildly. A whole year’s work rushes past in one glorious minute and a handful of seconds, work done by an entire team of grooms, assistants, jockeys, un- derstudies, trainers, vets, some- times over a whole lifetime and by an entire dynasty. Welcome to the Gujadhur clan. THE BIRTH OF A DYNASTY The Gujadhur stables, founded by Rajcoomar Gujadhur in around 1907, owe their fame to the long line of heads of households/ow- ners/trainers who have passed down from one generation to the next a passion for horses inherited from their Rajah ancestors in Bihar State, India. “ The English introduced racing at the Champ du Mars – the oldest racecourse in the southern hemisphere, inaugurated in 1812 – to heal the rift between the victors (the English) and the vanquished (the French), and promote social cohesion among a multi-ethnic population ,” comments Hemant Kumar, eldest son of the  HORSE STABLES THE ART OF DISCOVERY 42 Preparing a galloper takes time, peace and quiet, and daily care from grooms. More a vocation than a job, according to head groom, Naresh Kowlessur. La préparation d’un galopeur requiert du temps, du calme et des soins quotidiens prodigués par les palefreniers. Une vocation plus qu’un métier, selon leur chef Naresh Kowlessur.