M.A.M. Ramaswamy, scion of the House of Chettinad and India’s leading racehorse owner, died in a private hospital in Chennai Wednesday.
M.A.M. Ramaswamy, scion of the House of Chettinad and India’s leading racehorse owner, died in a private hospital in Chennai Wednesday. The 84-year-old industrialist, educationist, philanthropist, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) representing Karnataka and Chairman of the Madras Race Club, was ailing for some time from a liver problem and died of multiple organ complications. His funeral will take place on Sunday.
Ramaswamy was Chairman of Chettinad Cements, the flagship of the group which did business in many of sectors including shipping, until he was dethroned by his former adopted son M.A.M.R. Muthiah. The feud between father and son had occupied huge media space in recent times with Ramaswamy even declaring through the Deccan Chronicle that MAMR Muthiah should not light his funeral pyre.
A cousin of P. Chidambaram, former Union finance and home minister and A.C. Muthiah, retired head of SPIC group of industries, Ramaswamy was a flamboyant racehorse owner whose fame spread far beyond India as his thoroughbreds won more than 600 Indian classics like 1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, Derby races and the Indian Turf Invitation Cup. A great lover of sport, he was head of the Indian Hockey Federation in the ‘70s and India won the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in 1975 and the Olympic gold in Moscow in1980 when he was headings IHF.
He was instrumental in Chennai hosting many international events, including a famous Davis Cup match against Australia at the cricket stadium in Chepauk, which was once under the control of his uncle M.A. Chidambaram, President of BCCI. Said to have been worth anywhere up to Rs 6,000 crores, Ramaswamy died a broken hearted because of the bitterness over his succession in business. He leaves behind no heir but had made over all his property to two charitable trusts to be managed by his cousin A.C. Muthiah.
“A giant banyan tree has fallen,” said R. Ramakrishnan, deputy chairman of Madras Race Club and a close friend of MAM as he was universally known. “He was legend of horse racing,” Ramakrishnan said while recalling Ramaswamy’s several exploits in the field of horse racing, a passion he developed when young and was riding as an amateur jockey in the Riding Club of Madras and its Gymkhana races in Chennai.
Known as “Monarch Among Monarchs” in racing circles, he was a controversial chairman of MRC, which became a virtual monopoly in his regime to the extent of famous trainers shying away from bringing their horses here to compete. He was a shrewd punter as well both on his horses and on cricket.
