Mumbai winter races to begin at Pune from Nov. 27

Horse racing in western India will start in Pune from November 27 with the Maharashtra government granting permission to the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) to conduct closed-door, spectator-less meetings while following all COVID-19 guidelines.

An eight-race card, featuring 87 horses, has been framed for the opening day’s races on Friday. The RWITC has issued a 11 race-day sheet prospectus and the remaining race days will be announced later.

Zavaray Poonawalla, chairman, RWITC, told

The Hindu “On behalf of the managing committee I am pleased to announce that the closed door Mumbai Winter racing season shall commence in Pune from Friday 27th November. Enthusiasts can log on to

www.rwitc.com and click on live streaming which will take the user to Paytm site for live relay of the races. Online betting permission however is awaited.”

“The first part of the prospectus is up to January 10 and includes the Indian 1000 Guineas on January 3 and Indian 2000 Guineas on January 10. The next part will be out shortly,” added Mr. Poonawalla.