The 30th successive running of the Poonawalla Breeders Multi-Million (PBMM) will be staged here on Sunday, February 24. The first race is scheduled at 4.15 p.m. and the PBMM will be run at 6 p.m.
The concept of ‘The Breeders Million Race’ evolved in the late 1980s when members of the National Horse Breeding Society of India (NHBSI) got together under the aegis of the council members of NHBSI to find ways and means to provide a boost to breeding and horse racing, as the sport, though considered to be the ‘king of sports’, was not being patronised in the manner it was being done at other racing centres around the world.
Hence, it was decided by the NHBSI to institute a race to be run on the lines of the Magic Million and the Cartier Million as run in Australia and Ireland respectively.
The Poonawalla brothers, Cyrus and Zavaray, came forward to conduct this event and also agreed to generate million rupees. The first sponsored Breeders’ Million Race was run on March 11, 1990.
As it is a produce race for 3-year-olds and run over 1400m to determine the leading juvenile champion in the country, it is also known as ‘Juvenile Derby.’
The total stakes for this mega event this year will be ₹1, 44,66,000 and the winner’s purse will be ₹86,79,600. Among the 13 contenders which will vie for honours is Pesi Shroff’s ward Hunt For Gold, which won the Breeders’ Produce Stakes in style and maintains her winning form.
S.K. Sunderji-trainee Headway, which claimed the B.K. Rattonsey Maiden Million comfortably, may pose a serious threat as evidenced by his track performances. Free Gold, which hails from trainer Imtiaz Sait’s yard, won well in his last start and may add pep to the finish.
Out of the three outstation horses, trainer Laxman Singh’s Marinetti, the winner of two races at Hyderabad, may upset.
There will be a ‘free contest of skill’ where the punters will have to nominate the first four placings. The first prize is a Honda Amaze car and the three other prizes are a scooter, a LED TV and a laptop.
There will be a bumper bonanza for the racegoers on Sunday as the RWITC has decided to add a carried forward amount of ₹50 lakh to the collection of the combined jackpot pool.
