Tweet
The Pune Racing season at the Turf Club on Tuesday.The season will witness a record aggregate prize money of Rs 6.92 crore for the 28-day season, not including the trophies.
The Grade 1 Nanoli Stud Pune Derby will be the seasons highlight, said a press release. This will be Nanoli's 15 th successive year of sponsorship, having first sponsored the race in 1996. The total prize money is expected to be around Rs 75 lakh.
The Indian classic - The Indian St Leger returned to Pune last year for the first time since 1990 when it was run due to the delayed Mumbai season. The RWITC has agreed to move The Indian St Leger permanently to its original location at Pune from 2011.
The Derby 'prep' races will share the spotlight with a host of Million races for the Classic crop. As many as nine races will offer stakes in excess of 1 million rupees for this age group, the release said.
The Independence Cup weekend will be the busiest season after the Derby. This year, the traditional Independence Cup will get a fitting boost, with a 1 million purse, making it the country's richest handicap race. International Sponsors in the form of the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing group will support three races including the two Millions. Their associate Goffs will sponsor the country's earliest million race for two year olds in October.
In keeping with the Mumbai policy, the club will guarantee a minimum purse of Rs 1 million in all graded races. In addition to the juvenile millions, seven such races will be held.
The racedays will offer prizes and events including food carnivals, fashion shows, music and the popular Oktoberfest, modelled on the famous Munich beer festival will be staged on the Derby weekend. The RWITC recognizes the role of important dignitaries in the functioning of the Club and hence races such as The Southern Command, The Mayor's Trophy, The Sub Arena Commanders Trophy and The Principal Director Defence Estates Trophy will be run apart from several races named after prominent families.
The Pune Racing Season has scored even bigger names on its sponsors list this year, as opposed to some years ago when only the Poonawalla Million and the Pune Derby were sponsored races.
Jain highlighted the efforts of the club committee in further promoting the sport, among the general public as well as the racing fraternity. Another interesting addition to this season is the web portal for owners and trainers. The portal at horsein.com has a link at the RWITC website too.
"Owners and trainers had to go through tedious processes for transactions and information. Thus, we decided to make the system more user-friendly ," Jain said. Currently, 20 trainers have registered, with more to follow. The portal will be functional for owners from next week. From getting information on horses, sweepstake races, bans, to making entries and downloading statement of accounts, owners and trainers will now be just a click away from racing updates.
Other new features include the Villoo Poonawalla Gold Cup in the SA Poonawalla Million Race in memory of the Late Villoo Poonawalla and a fashion show.
Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds
