The prestigious Mumbai racing season is set to take off on Thursday. Several high profile events have been framed for the season, with record stakes on offer. The Royal Western India Turf Club will have the honour of hosting the 36th Asian Racing Conference in the month of January. On the Indian Oaks day which is January 24, a multi-million race for three year olds has been specially framed, with prize money on offer being a whopping Rs 1 crore. Zavaray Poonawalla is sponsoring a big race on January 3 as a lead up race for this event, with the trophy value being an unprecedented Rs 10 lakhs.

Chairman of RWITC Zavaray Poonawalla exuded confidence that the Mumbai season would be a momentous one for several reasons. Apart from the embellishment of each week`s racing with a sponsored event, several associated events will add the glamour and glitz quotient. ``The endeavour of committee is to strive for ensuring fair racing in the best interests of the patrons of the sport,`` he said. The club is proud to announce that about 20 days of racing will be held under lights, beginning in January next year.

Vivek Jain who is the head of the marketing committee, who addressed the Press, said that the advertised prize money, excluding trophies, is about Rs.23 crores as against less than 20 crores last year (excluding the Invitation Cup weekend). However, after adding performance bonus, sweepstakes and the extra pay out for divided races, the actual disbursement will cross Rs.33 crores, making the pay out, the highest at a single season, anywhere in the country.

Vivek Jain said that the club continued to maintain its leadership position in attracting record
sponsorships and alliances, and the season ahead will be no exception. Contributions are at Rs.7.75 crores. This compares much better than approx. Rs.6 crores achieved last year (not including the Invitation Cup). In addition to the lavish prize money, the bigger days are promoted, as always, as carnivals of leisure, entertainment and prizes, adding to the lure of the day.

The Indian Derby Weekend (February 6 and 7), will continue to be the biggest in Indian Racing, The race, will again cross the 3 crore mark in prize money, making it one of the richest sporting events in the country, and will be promoted with pomp and splendour. United Spirits, long time sponsors, had intimated their intent to withdraw their sponsorship with immediate effect. Negotiations were recently held with USL who have now agreed to contribute half their contracted value and authorising the Club to find a co-sponsor for the race with joint branding. Talks are at an advanced stage with potential partners and we hope to conclude this by the end of the month, and we are confident of a satisfactory conclusion, Vivek Jain said.

Vivek Jain said that the racing program was replete with top quality races, five Grade 1 races and several millions and multi millions across all age groups. We have added “Double stakes” and even a “Tripe Stakes” race to lend an innovative touch to our program. Many Million races are in the handicaps to equitably distribute the sponsored stakes, he added.

The RWITC is having a race day like the Champions Day as in Britain, to give racing a quality boost. Three Group races over 1200, 1600 and 2000 metres and two million races will make Champions` Day on February 14 a red letter day, he said.

Vivek Jain said that RWITC was privileged to host the 36th Asian Racing Conference in Mumbai from January 24th to 29th, 2016 after a gap of 19 years. About 700 delegates from countries around the world and distinguished invitee speakers are expected to attend this event. The race day to kick off the ARC will be spectacular. In addition to the Viloo Poonawalla Indian Oaks, the Gool S. Poonawalla Million will be run on the same day with a 3 million purse. Four international companies will sponsor races on the day – At the Races, Am Tote, ITM & TRM. Each of these races will have prize money ranging from Rs.2 to Rs.4 million. In another first, 5 breeders will jointly sponsor The Breeders` Championship Stakes as this is with a whopping Rs.4 million purse.

Last year the preliminary run of night racing was an instant success. The good news is that 20 days of night racing has been scheduled during the season. The first day of evening racing is scheduled for January 3, .Zavaray Poonawalla coming in as a magnanimous sponsor for the inauguration of evening racing with a “TRIPLE MILLION” race and a stunning trophy valued at an unheard of 10 lakh rupees. The Club has invited bids for the title rights of evening racing with a minimum reserve of 1.15 crores.

In association with BCP (P) Ltd. Of Singapore, the club will relaunch RWITC TV and give a much more viewer friendly streaming of races. Better graphics, visuals, content, live track work, hosts and interviews will encompass both live streaming and RWITC.TV. In addition, the club will partner with Neo Sports for bringing 20 race days live on television. All these initiatives will be the first by a racing Club in India, Vivek Jain said.