The thunder of hooves will be heard on the lush green track here from July 28 as the Pune Monsoon racing season commences. The 24-day season has prize money of Rs. 8.31 crore against the Rs. 9.31 crore in 2015. On a per day average the stakes are on par with last season.
Mr. Vivek Jain, Chairman, Media & Marketing Group, RWITC, while briefing the press here on Monday afternoon said: “As always the Club has done well in attracting a host of sponsors to support its programme. Total contribution is Rs. 94.5 lakhs, which is higher than last year’s Rs. 89.5 lakhs.”
“The highlight of the season will be the Pune Derby with Kingfisher Ultra being the new sponsor of the event. The Derby weekend will also feature the most popular Oktoberfest, in association with the Indo-German Chamber and it will really be a big weekend” he stated.
Mr. Jain said: “The last and longest of the Indian Classics, Indian St. Leger, has a new sponsor in Gourmet Renaissance and a huge festival is being planned along with this mega race. Bangalore has now made its St. Leger open to older horses, as in the UK. The RWITC Stewards will deliberate whether we should follow suit, or keep the Indian Triple Crown format unchanged.”
Important races: Pune Bookmakers’ Association Turf Club Trophy (Aug. 7), PRA Independence Million (Aug. 15), Panchshil Million (Aug. 21), F.D.Wadia Trophy (Aug. 27), Southern Command Gold Trophy (Aug. 28), Mayor Baburao Sanas Million (Sept. 4), Akkasaheb Maharaj Trophy (Sept. 10), Idar Gold Trophy (Sept. 11), S.A.Poonawalla Multi-Million and Villoo C. Poonawalla Gold Trophy (Sept. 18), Gourmet Renaissance Indian St. Leger (Sept. 25), Threptin Fillies’ & Mares’ Stakes (Oct. 9), Suresh Mahindra Trophy (Oct. 15), IGCC Trophy, Kingfisher Ultra Pune Derby and Noshir & Dolly Dhunjibhoy Sprint Million (Oct. 16), General Rajendrasinhji Million (Oct. 21), Aquaguard Championship R.W.I.T.C Ltd Gold Cup and Tattersalls Million (Oct. 22).
Racing dates: July 28 and 29. August: 6, 7, 14, 15, 20, 21, 27 and 28. September: 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25. October: 8, 9, 15, 16, 21 and 22.
