Remediation Project - Engaging Media COMS1001

Horses which have been record holders of the Draper's Mile at the Champ de Mars in Mauritius

The Draper's Mile is, in fact, the distance of 1500 m on the racecourse of the Champ de Mars in Mauritius. It was named likewise in honour of the Colonel Draper who, until the bicentenary of the Mauritius Turf Club (MTC) in 2012, was believed to be the 'father' of horse-racing in Mauritius and the MTC. It was brought to light just before the bicentenary of the MTC in 2012 that the Colonel Draper was not even in the British colony of Mauritius in 1812, more precisely on the 25th June when the first races were run in the country, he was still in Great Britain and it was only in 1814 that the Colonel Draper came to Mauritius. It is Sir Robert Farquhar, the first British Governor of Mauritius who is the real 'father' of horse-racing in Mauritius as he was the one who introduced horse-racing in the colony. When the Colonel Draper came to Mauritius in 1814, he contributed greatly to the organisation horse-racing in Mauritius and to the administration of the MTC, more than Sir Robert Farquhar, who took a leave of absence between 1817 and 1820 and resigned from his post in 1823 and returned to Great Britain. The Colonel Draper died in 1841 in Port Louis and his tomb can be found in the cemetery of La Mivoie in Rivière Noire in Mauritius. 

The question which is now asked is how the Draper's Mile is 1500 m when a mile is approximately 1600 m? This also originates from a mistake of the Colonel Draper. Where he placed the post where the start of a race of the mile would be given, it was realised some time later that the horses were not running the 1600 m of the mile, but less than that, they were in fact running 1500 m. Since it was the Colonel Draper himself, who mistakenly introduced races on that distance, the 1500 m was named the Draper's Mile. 

With the introduction of horse-racing in Mauritius in 1812, the MTC became only the third horse-racing organiser in the world - after The Jockey Club (UK) in 1750 and The Irish Jockey Club in 1790 - and the first horse-racing organiser in the Southern Hemisphere and to this date, the MTC remains the third oldest horse-racing organiser in the world and oldest in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Since this distance has been introduced at the Champ de Mars more than 200 years ago, the record of this distance has been lowered numerous times. In modern history, much closer to us, it was in 1971 that Sharp Pip of Ythier Stable and ridden by T. Little, lowered the record of the Draper's Mile to 1 min 32.20 s. 16 years later, in 1987, the record of the Draper's Mile would be broken three times in the span of less than three months. Between the 25th July 1987 and 17th October of the same year, Six Dragoon (Rousset Stable - R. Sham - 1 min 32.10 s), Private Agent (Rousset Stable - R. Sham - 1 min 31.90 s) and Jamaico's Demain (Maigrot Stable - G. Waterston - 1 min 31.20 s) have beaten this record. 

In 1995, on the 25th November, in 'The Gilbeys Gin Cup', Jump The Queue, trained by Mr Richard Duval who is today a Honourable Member of the National Assembly of Mauritius, equalled the record of Jamaico's Demain. Jump The Queue was ridden by G. Figueroa.

Two years later, on 9th August 1997, in 'The Guiness Trophy', Royal Showman of Perdrau Stable and ridden by R. Hill lowered the record of this distance in the round time of 1 min 30.00 s. 

Since then, there has been only a few horses - two in 'The Colonel Draper Cup', one of the semi-classic races of the racing calendar - who went down the minute and a half, starting with Disa Leader of Gilbert Rousset Stable and ridden by Johnny Geroudis on the 9th October 2010, who performed in 1 min 29.75 s on the distance in... 'The Colonel Draper Cup', with False Rails at 3.25 m. At the end of season in 2010, Disa Leader was not only the record holder of the Draper's Mile, but he was also the record holder of the 1650 m in 1 min 39.78 s and the 1600 m in 1 min 34.46 s. He won his last three races of that season in record time, ending with The Duke of York Cup, the last of the four classic races of the season. Having no competition in Mauritius, he was exported in Dubai in 2011, not before winning his third classic race of his Mauritian career, the Barbé Cup; having won the Duchess of York Cup and the Duke of York Cup a year earlier. Till date, 12 years later, his records of 1600 m and 1650 m still stand.

On the 30th April 2011, on the occasion of the 6th Race-meeting of the season, in the 5th Race, 'The Innovation Beyond Change Cerato Trophy', Captain's Knock of Gilbert Rousset Stable lowered the record of the Draper's Mile to 1 min 29.60 s. On that occasion, he had beaten his stable companion, Disa Leader, the hot favourite of that race who was shouldering 62 kg. 

A strange coincidence happened almost a year after Disa Leader's record-breaking performance in 'The Colonel Draper Cup'. For the second consecutive season, another horse had lowered the record of the distance in the very same race, which was the 6th Race of the 27th Race-meeting held on 1st October 2011. It was Seattle Ice who clocked 1 min 29.57 s on that occasion, was from Serge Henry Stable and was ridden was J. Holder. 

In 2012, the bicentenary year of the MTC, in the first edition of 'Le Trophée du Bicentenaire du MTC' - which literally translates to the Bicentenary Trophy of the MTC - Ice Axe of Ricky Maingard Stable and ridden by G. Faucon, had beaten the record of the Draper's Mile in 1 min 29.18 s. It was on the 30th June.

Finally, on 11th May 2013, in another semi-classic race, 'La Coupe du Cent-cinquantenaire', which is the 150th Anniversary Cup of the MTC, the record of the Draper's Mile was further lowered to 1 min 28.87 s and the author of this performance was Tales Of Bravery of Ricky Maingard Stable and had G. Faucon as jockey. The record of Tales Of Bravery still stands to this date.