The Calcutta Cold Weather season kicks off on Saturday with a promise of greater things to come. However, as compared to last winter, there is a drop in the total stake money that professionals and racehorse owners will be battling over, Nevertheless, it is still a staggering Rs 13. 37 crores. The highlight of the season will be the Derby weekend on January 9 and 10.  Other than the cash-rich Calcutta Derby (with added money of Rs 1 crore) to be run on Sunday, January 10 and the other classic races (1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, Oaks, and St Leger), there are quite a few races with over Rs 10 lakhs in prize money. The Bengal Club Juvenile Stakes, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy and Alokananda Stakes all fall in the 10-plus category. The age old Calcutta Gold Cup has been rather aptly renamed The Deepak Khaitan Memorial Calcutta Gold Cup, added money being Rs 25 lakhs. Eveready Industries will now sponsor the New Year's Day races instead of the Derby. The Kunigal Indian Produce Stakes to be run on New Year’s Day carries guaranteed prize money to the tune of Rs 15 lakhs. The prestigious Indian Champion Cup to be run on January 22 is the only other Grade I event other than The Derby.

Handicapping: Three-year-olds who performed well at this centre during the monsoon have been given a shot in the arm as the handicapper has dropped the ‘ handicap scale’ by 3kg for all participants. Quite a few of the monsoon winners will benefit from this move.

This year’s meeting will comprise 30 race days (as compared to 35 last year) and will conclude on March 26th, 2016.  There are 212 races scheduled to be run during these five months, of which 93 will be cup events.

The Club has approximately 536 horses in station, comprising 155 two-year-olds and 381 older horses. A further number of older horses are expected to arrive in station to compete during the season.

On the professional front, there are 21 trainers at the moment. After his two-month sojourn during the monsoon meet, winter champion Vijay Singh will no doubt go all out to retain that title. The other notable professionals who will be worth following are the seasoned Bharath Singh, the ever-focussed Arti Doctor and the wily Javed Khan.

Among the riders, 26 jockeys have been issued ‘A’ licenses and 25 ‘B’ licenses. Also on view will be 6 apprentice jockeys.  Prominent among those to don silks will be local monsoon champion Shailesh Shinde, last winter runner-up Christopher Alford (who had a lean monsoon), and visiting riders Suraj Narredu,  P S Chauhan and Dashrath Singh.

Outstation challengers are likely to raise the bar for the local thoroughbreds. The star attraction for the classics is likely to be Multitude, who is already in town after his Bangalore Summer essays. Along with the local duo consisting of his promising stablemate Setaflame and Monsoon Derby winner Captain Cook, they will form an ‘awesome threesome’.

The classics and other important races scheduled to be run during the season are as under:

Calcutta 1000 Guineas (Grade III)                        November 21, 2015

Calcutta 2000 Guineas (Grade II)                         December 5, 2015

Calcutta Gold Cup (Grade II)                               December 12, 2015

Calcutta Oaks (Grade III)                                     December 19, 2015

Kunigal Indian Produce Stakes                              January 1, 2016

RCTC Gold Vase                                                  January 1, 2016

Champions’ Sprint (Grade III)                               January 9, 2016

Calcutta Derby Stakes (Grade I)                            January 10, 2016

Indian Champion Cup (Grade I)                             January 22, 2016

Queen’s Cup (Grade III)                                        February 13, 2016

Governor’s Cup                                                     February 27, 2016

Calcutta St. Leger (Grade III)                                 March 3, 2016