Dr MAM Ramaswamy, a colourful personality, who dominated the Indian racing scene for over 40 years as a horse owner, passed away in a Chennai hospital yesterday.


Dr MAM Ramaswamy (left) talks to jockeys Richard Hughes and Raju Pandey (right) on the eve of the 2000 Indian McDowell Derby at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse. Pic/mid-day archives

'Ramu', as he was fondly called by everyone in racing, suffered from serious kidney and liver complications, and was put on life support on Saturday. He was 84. A successful industrialist, who ran a business empire worth thousands of crores, Dr Ramaswamy was passionate about racehorses. He founded a racing empire which at one time had over 700 racehorses.