1938 Calcutta Horse Racing India - Viceroy's Cup *Photo
€50,00
CONTACT US
India's Viceroy Presents Racing Cup
O.P.S. Viceroy of India and Lady Linlithgow were present at the Royal Calcutta Racecourse when the race for the Viceroy's cup, India's Derby, was run.
The stake money was 3.500 pounds.
Photo shows Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy, presenting the Cup to Sir David Ezra, brother of the owner, after the race.
Copyright Keystone - London
Immagine d'epoca della premiazione del vincitore della Viceroy's cup, Derby d'India, da parte del Vicerè Lord Linlithgow.
Vera fotografia d'epoca, originale, autentica.
E' presente una nota originale dattiloscritta al verso (in inglese).
In ottime condizioni
-------------------------
Note: racing in India is a legacy of the British Raj. Though it is well documented that the British were always serious in the business of efficiently running the Empire, they invariably found time for sport and recreation, and wherever they went, they created the necessary infrastructure for its pursuit.
It must be remembered that in India, the British presence depended for a very long time on its military strength. The armies of the 18th and 19th centuries were cavalry-oriented and the overwhelming involvement with horses inevitably meant that equine sports were to the fore.
Almost every cantonment in India had a racecourse and race meetings were organized as far back as the 18th century. In fact, the Madras Race Club, which celebrated its bi-centenary in 1978, was founded before the first Derby was run at Epsom.
It was inevitable that some prominent patrons of the British Turf at the time, in particular titled aristocracy and officers of the army, were sent out to India on postings. During their stay in this country, they devoted their leisure time to the establishment and development of racing in India.
Calcutta was the centre of British power in the early days of the Raj and, quite naturally, became the leading turf centre. The institution of The Viceroy's Cup at the Hastings Race Course in Calcutta in 1856 gave further impetus to racing and became an event of tremendous prestige. Lord William Beresford, who served on the Viceroy's staff, won it with his black gelding Camballo in 1881. Myall King gave him three further successes in the race.
Racing in the early days was conducted with cavalry horses, chargers imported from Great Britain and Arabs. As in the formative years of British racing - and especially on account of the kind of horses used - the majority of the more prestigious events were run over long distances.
In the Victorian era, around the turn of the century, the British Raj was getting more and more 'Indianised'. Indians began to find a place in the administrative, industrial and social environment of the country. It was only a matter of time before the local elite began to take an active interest in racing.
The Maharajas were amongst the first Indians to be bitten by the racing-bug and early princely patrons of the Turf included Cooch-Behar, Burdwan, Baroda, Idar, Morvi, Kolhapur, Rajpipla and Mysore. Many of them, as also industrialists like textile tycoon Mathradas Goculdas, extended their interest to the ownership of horses in England.
