It's not exactly Ascot, but Mumbai's Mahalaxmi Racecourse is probably as close as you can get to rubbing shoulders with high society fillies and cocktail party stallions. During the racing season between November and February, few events are as well attended as the Mumbai Derby, an annual affair with all the traditional English trimmings: hats, gloves, cucumber sandwiches, scones. And of course magnificent thoroughbreds, belonging mostly to Indian booze barons and local industrialists. But save for hardcore punters, these are merely the sideshow.