It was more Cotton World vs Revolution rather than Pierre Cardin vs Neimen Marcus.

Cotton replaces chic, hats off at Derby

It was more Cotton World vs Revolution rather than Pierre Cardin vs Neimen Marcus. With the relaxed dress code rule, the Derby had a much more informal look with men in jeans and T-shirts (sacrilege for the Derby) and women in comfy kurtis and jeans. A couple of hats though, made heads turn. A stall selling gentlemen's hats with the Signature branding for a mighty Rs 500 did not have too many takers though.Aneel Gagh from Ghatkopar laughed as he said, "I would rather bet with that money. Topi se kya karna."
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Ice cream, daaru khatam ho gaya!

This Derby may have surely seen a record attendance as the vast lawns of the Mahalaxmi filled up completely from 2pm onwards. Familiar scenes of Styrofoam cup and paper plates piled up overflowing from dustbins on the ground. The ice cream and juice stall had to turn away customers because they ran out of roast almond ice cream mid-way. A young man grumbled, "Ice-cream is over, even the drinks are over," to which the man on the counter quipped, "Daaru khatam? Never mind if we run out of ice cream. The daaru should never stop
flowing."
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When Native ran like a true Knight

The gelding Native Knight, owned by Madhur Bajaj, cousin of Rahul Bajaj was an impressive third-place in the Derby. The owner said, "I'm so happy with the way he ran. He beat horses like Onassis. In fact, the jockey told me that if he'd known the horse a little more, he would have ridden him better." There were reportsu00a0 buzz had swirled around the racecourse that Cyrus Poonawalla had tried to buy Native Knight from Bajaj, prior to the Derby but the deal fell through.
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First-time Derby visitor Claudia chills

A hey-look-there visitor at the post-race prize giving in the paddock was Claudia Ciesla, one of the inmates in Bigg Boss III. Claudia said that it was her first time at the Derby but she is a regular at Mahalaxmi racecourse, "Where I do horse riding every morning. In fact, I have been horse riding for the past 10 years," the German who loves horses, the two-legged studs eat your heart out, said.

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Jacqueline owner Shirke was on pins

Winner Jacqueline's owner, Vijay Shirke (the horse is jointly owned by the Dhunjibhoys, Shirkes and B Desai) said that he was afraid Jacqueline might not have been able to overtake Becket with just 200m left to the finish line in the Indian Derby.
"I was so scared she would not be able to catch up," said a relieved Shirke, post-race as Jacqueline lived up to her billing.
One presumes celebrations continued at Shirke's Sea Face Park residence near Breach Candy Hospital. Earlier reports did the rounds that the Pune businessman had bought a flat in the upscale locale at a whopping Rs One lakh per square foot, though Shirke had denied that.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
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Foreign jockeys stealing Indian jobs?

While India is being touted as the new outsourcing hub and there is much fear overseas about jobs being outsourced to India, Indian jockeys may have reason to worry. The 12-horse Derby saw more than half the horses ridden by foreign jockeys, which proves that owners prefer non-desi riders. With globalisation, the racecourse has opened up for foreign riders too, but, that may not mean good things for our Indian men in silks.

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Padma Shri for world champion filly?

If a horse could be nominated for Padma Shri award, Jacqueline who created a world record by winning four Classics, would surely be in the fray. More pertinently, the filly would generate far less controversy that some of those on the list this time, for who can say "neigh" to such a classy runner?

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