The first race of evening racing at the Mahalaxmi racecourse features a card of eight races; the last three of them will be run under the floodlights. The prime event, the Zavaray Poonawalla Evening Racing Triple Million, lives up to its name by offering Rs 3 million as prize money. The winner will be eligible for the biggest trophy in the history of Indian racing, valued at Rs 1 million, besides the stake money of Rs 19.53 lakh. The runner up will pocket another Rs 6.51 lakh, the third-placed horse will get Rs 3.25 lakh, while horses finishing down the line will also take smaller denominations home.

No wonder 15 three-year-old horses have entered the fray--one of them, Lord Darlington trained by S Padmanabhan, coming all the way from Bangalore. It's extremely difficult to spot the winner as seven of the 15 will be making their debut, and therefore, are unknown entities as of now. However, going by the performances of those who have had the benefit of a run and the track trials of the debutants, I feel the eventual winner may emerge from the quartet of Lord Darlington, Allora, Devoted Eyes and Siobhan, the last-named, having registered a decent class factor on the scale of my Dynamic Ratings, getting my first nomination.