Cirrus@Austlit

Editor's preface: 'During the era of the British Raj in India, horse racing was one of the most popular sports in the sub-continent. Since those days, race meetings have continued to be held throughout the country although on a smaller scale. The great storyteller, Rudyard Kipling, whose writing is so closely associated with India, not only followed the sport as a young man during the days of the Raj, but also wrote an unforgettable short story about it.

The creator of the immortal Mowgli and Gunga Din was born in Bombay, although he was educated in England, and then returned to India to become a journalist and sub-editor in Lahore. It is believed that he wrote reports on a number of race meetings, and was evidently fascinated by the Indian peoples' delight in gambling. I have been told that there is a strong element of fact in his story, 'The Broken Link Handicap', which he wrote in 1907, but whether or not this is true, it is an outstanding mystery tale, replete with the heat, dust and intrigue of that remarkable country.'