The Mumbai Season 2015-16 kicked off with a press briefing held at the Mini Club House, Mahalaxmi racecourse on the eve of the opening day. Mr Zavaray Poonawalla, Chairman, RWITC, opened the proceedings to a fairly large gathering of media personnel and many of the first time sponsors were also among those present. Speaking in his usual cordial and friendly tone, Mr Poonawalla stressed on the need to ensure fair and clean racing. “We want all our patrons to enjoy the races and derive pleasure and excitement that the sport of racing is known to offer. We have a reliable team of stipes who are competent to handle the responsibilities. Another issue I am personally going to tackle is to offer the common racegoer more comforts and a cleaner environment in the 1st Enclosure. Facilities can improve out there and my colleagues and I are determined to offer more hygienic and better seating arrangements for the general public,” said the Chairman.

Mr Gulamhusein Vahanvaty, Chairman, Stewards of the Club, also endorsed Mr Poonawalla’s views with regard to fair racing. “It is imperative to monitor the races and we will take all measures to make sure that every horse and every jockey does give his best. We have a good set of staff and a vigilant team of stipes. We are going to closely scrutinize incidents that merit a closer look and will rule in accordance of the incident without fear or favor. The idea is to take stringent action as a strong deterrent,” said Mr Vahanvaty.

Mr Vivek Jain, Chairman of the Marketing wing of the RWITC, then elaborated on the highlights of the forthcoming season. Mr Jain provided insights into the racing aspects with regard to record Stakes on offer which on actual disbursement will spill close to 35 crores, the highest my any standards in the country.

Mr Jain explained that there is no ‘magic wand’ that springs sponsors and it is all a result of persistent efforts that reap positive results. A list of new sponsors associating with the Club is an encouraging sign and the contribution of regular sponsors has remained healthy. Sponsorships to the tune of nearly 8 crores is substantially higher than the year gone by, which was around six crore.

The Indian Derby (Gr1) stands tall of the Indian Classics with rich stakes of over Rs three crore on offer, the richest for any sporting event in the country. Mr Jain said, “Long time sponsors United Spirits Ltd had initially withdrawn the sponsorship with immediate effect, however, Zavaray and I met their representatives twice in Bangalore and in Mumbai more recently and managed to convince them to retain their association with the Mega racing event. The USL has now agreed to contribute half the sponsorship value and the club would rope in a joint sponsor and talks are on with several corporate houses to come in as joint sponsor of the Indian Derby.

The racing program this season will have the four Indian Classics towering high over the next three months. The Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million fondly called the ‘Juvenile Derby’ is another jewel in the crown. The ‘Champions Day’ with three Group races and two ‘Million’ races packed in will be another highlight of the season.

Racing under the lights had proved to be an exciting proposition last season. “the trial run at the end of last season was highly encouraging  and this time we are determined to do it in a grand manner, said Mr Jain. Cashing in on the new trend, racing under the lights or Evening races, run between 4 to 8 pm has been given a boost and this season with have around 20 such race days starting from January. The cost of conducting racing under lights is exorbitant. “Mr Zavaray Poonawalla had readily offered Rs One crore, however, the some in the committee felt that the sponsorship had to be tendered. We have now invited bids and hopefully this should get the desired result,” Mr Jain said.

The landmark week during the season will be the hosting of the 36^th Asian Racing Conference (ARC) from January 24th to 29th. Hundreds of delegates and distinguished speakers are expected to participate in this Mega event that returns to Mumbai after 20 years. The Villoo Poonawalla Indian Oaks day will kick off the ARC with the Gool S Poonawalla Million and three other Million races will make it an ideal start. International organization such as At The Races, Am tote, ITM & TRM will also be the sponsors on the day.

Another first will be the five leading Breeders jointly sponsoring the Breeders’ Championship Stakes with a rich purse of Rs Four Million.

Food, Fashion & Theatre will add a new dimension which certainly goes with action packed racing. Stlyecracker weekend will kick off in the last weekend of November. Food fest with Eat India and theatre fest with AGP will punctuate the festive aura during the season.

For the first time, several prestigious sporting Clubs in Mumbai will congregate at the Mahalaxmi with as many as eight major Clubs coming on board as sponsors. “The response to the idea floated by the RWITC was overwhelming. In fact we had to put some clubs on the ‘wait list’ as the enthusiasm shown by the number of clubs to participate was far greater than we could accommodate. This is an encouraging sign,” said Mr Jain.

Another novel factor is the staging on the IVY League day at Mahalaxmi. Globally acclaimed universities such Harvard, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, Colombia and Brown will sponsor trophies on the LVY League day.

 The CSR drive of the RWITC has been going forward each year and organization such as the Indian Cancer Society, Sahachari Foundation and this time Lions Club among others will have certain days marked for such activities to help spread awareness and generate funds for noble causes. The club and its’ members have supported several causes in the past and have contributed to the Government’s relief funds over the years. ‘RWITC Cares’ is the new banner under which the Club will take such initiatives and a new brand logo will be launched shortly.

In a move to bring racing into homes, the RWITC have struck a deal with Neo Sports and at least 20 race days will be covered live by the sports channel. Internet live streaming on rwitc.com has been popular among the racing fraternity and the rwitc.tv will provide a window to view interviews with professionals and all the ‘off track’ glamour events happening at the racecourse.

Mumbai races have always been refreshingly high-profile and the new season is welcome news to the citizens in general and the regulars in particular. The committee having woven together an entertaining an action packed five and half months of racing, the new season is full of promises f good times, competitive racing an a great mix of high-end entertainment for all.

At the conclusion of the press briefing, Mr Zavaray Poonawalla did differ with Mr Vivek Jain on one point. Countering Mr Jain’s thinking that “there is no magic wand” Mr Poonawalla said, “I disagree on Mr Jain’s remark, In fact Mr Jain himself is the Magic wand!”