The Calcutta Cold Weather Season kicks off on the last day of October. The management has rather astutely decided to commence earlier than usual – and more importantly terminate the five-month long season before it stretches into the sweltering heat of the month of April. March 31 is the last day on the Calcutta racing calendar. During this period, 35 racedays have been scheduled. The total number of races framed is 222, with 90 of them being cup events. For the 222 races that are expected to be run during the season, the advertised stake money is Rs 9.23 crore with cups and trophies valued at Rs. 20 lakh.

The Club has approximately 529 horses in station, out of which 154 horses are 2-year-olds. There are 19 ‘ A’ licenced Trainers and 10 ‘B’ licenced Trainers participating in this season. The prospectus presents a very attractive format of Graded races. The two Grade I races, The Derby and The Indian Champion Cup, will be run on Sunday, January 9, 2011 and Saturday, January 22 respectively. The other major events are the 1000 Guineas on Sunday, November 28 (2010), 2000 Guineas on Saturday, December 11, The Oaks on Sunday, December 26, The St Leger on Saturday, February 12 and The Queen’s Cup on Saturday, February 26.

The first mega-event is the Calcutta Gold Cup to be run over the metric mile. This is scheduled for Saturday, December 18. Local turfites will be happy to learn that the St Leger is now a graded affair (Grade III). Other than the above mentioned events, we shall also be witnessing the running of The Mayfowl Cup, Hongkong Jockey Club Trophy, Indian Produce Stakes Alokananda Stakes Calcutta Champion’ s Sprint Trophy, Indian Champagne Stakes, Calcutta Million (Grade II, Mayor’ s Cup and The Grand Annual Handicap Eveready Industries India Limited will continue to support the Calcutta Derby Stakes (Grade I). The winner’s purse is likely to be about Rs 60 lakh once again. The other sponsors are Nanoli Stud (Calcutta Gold Cup), Poonawalla Stud (Calcutta Oaks) and Kunigal Stud (Indian Produce Stakes).

The Club will once again celebrate the Queen Elizabeth II Cup race, scheduled for Saturday, 26th February, 2011 by organizing an International Race Day. The Deputy High Commissioners and Consuls of the foreign missions at Calcutta are donating trophies for races to be named after their respective countries as in the previous years. In addition many well wishers of the Club have come forward to donate Cups and Trophies for races to be run during the season.

Trainer Arti Doctor has the largest string after local champion Vijay Singh. As on October 28, she has a total of 53 horses (18 of them two-year-olds) while Vijay has 66 (with 34 two-year-olds). Pesi Shroff may lack quantity but no one can deny the quality of his stable, what with the likes of Monsoon Derby winner Alice Springs and last year’s Calcutta Derby winner Bruckner. With the Derby having gone to outstation horses over the past couple of years (Abs Fabs and Bruckner), the famed red-and-gold colours of this centre are sure to face stiff opposition in trying to wrest back the initiative this year.

Some of the notable runners to follow are Alice Springs, Delphi, Zoffany, Andromache, Amoresque, Stormette, Riding Fantasy, Zillionaire, Bruckner, Cambiasso, Berlusconi, Granados, Ikaria, Chios, Moon Star, Star Invitation, Xisca, Swahili, Ballibay, Hillary, Hall Of Honour, Record Breaker, Ajayajeet, Palazzio’s Sun, Noble Prince and Echoes Of Light