Elephant racing Affairs in India, Nina Hagen, the German rock singer, and Brigitte Bardot, the French film actress. In India only two states hold the event. In Nepal, the race started as an International Elephant Race in December 2005. The Tharu people of Nepal, who are professional tamers of wild elephants, ride the race elephants. A particular feature of this race is that riders of racing elephants are chosen by lottery and not by choice and this makes the riding difficult for the jockeys who train on their favourite particular elephants. The winning elephant is awarded a trophy. The racing track is
Seeing the elephant writes that the popularity of the phrase came from Coney Island which used the elephant as a mascot throughout the Gilded Age. "So famous was this massive monument [the Elephant Hotel] that for a generation, "seeing the elephant" signified a quest for satisfactions in disreputable quarters." Earthly delights are not the only reason the elephant craze existed considering its many earlier origins. More likely the elephant Americanism gained steam and then was used as a catchy draw for brothels, saloons or businesses. There were several old west saloons that had 'elephant' in the title, including the famous White Elephant Saloons.