THE CROWN LODGE AT CHAMP DE MARS

At the foot of Fort Adelaide, the Champ-de-Mars was a military maneuvering ground before it became a racetrack. It was transformed into a racecourse on June 25, 1812, in order to allow the English administrators and the French sugar plantation owners to share a common pastime where they could erase their resentments. Nowadays, it is one of the most popular public places in Mauritius. In the cooler months, between mid-March and mid-December, it's crazy! Unrepentant gamblers or zougadères, as we say here, Mauritians love horse racing and go there in numbers every Saturday from 10 am when the first race starts at 12:30 pm.

On the Champ de Mars, cultural differences are erased, bets are placed, the stands are filled with a majority of men, the stalls of the street vendors exhale appetizing smells... When the race begins, the bettors rush to the gates and an immense silence spreads through the crowd. But when the horses approach the finish line, an extraordinary wave invades the esplanade and the people placed behind start jumping to try to see the winner. The winner will be greeted with shouts of victory or disappointment, in an incredibly electric atmosphere!

On the side of the boxes, the shouts are less loud, the impulses are more discreet. We are in bourgeois land, place of business meetings and social events. The women wear hats, the champagne sparkles in the glasses. It's because we play big, sometimes more than a million rupees. Here, instead of the more common races, the four classics are preferred: the Duchess of York Cup, the Barbé Cup, the Duke of York Cup and above all the Maiden Cup, which takes place exceptionally on a Sunday (and not a Saturday) in September. This last event is the most physical and the most popular. The horses are specially prepared for this one and run two laps each time, a distance of 2,400 meters. On this day, the lawn is full and the crowd can reach over 100,000 spectators.

How to see a race? In addition to the common esplanade which allows you to watch the races for free and from close by (the particularity of the Champ de Mars is that the track is close to the public), you can opt for the public box or, even better, for one of the private boxes. The latter offer optimal conditions, overhanging the track, with a view at the back of the paddock to admire the horses before the effort.