Godzilla,

You are right.  The decision to start racing is entirely the decision of the club.

The club has to get permission from the Government.  And, we know what happened to the truncated series planned by the BTC.

We do not know what the situation will be after one month.  But, we should not lose sight of reality.  Maharashtra is the state with highest coronavirus case.  So, if somebody feels that Sri Poonawalla is over ambitious, we should try to see who is realistic.  Poonawalla or SSPP!  My vote goes to SSPP.  It is extremely doubtful whether any sports activity can resume in the next 3 months.  

still poor punter

I dont think we have the power to comment anything about restarting Racing. We should better leave it to the authorities concerned.

Mr. Poonawala will take the right decision in the interest of the sport.

As far as Govt. treating and paying attention towards Covid epidemic is concerned., they are performing very well. 

Due to Covid, no one should put their operations to standstil.  The brave wins finally.

@ M P Reddy  ,

The points raised by you are valid.

Turf Clubs without exception have tried to keep their affairs for the 'exclusive society '.No attempt has ever been made to democratise these clubs. They have tolerated ordinary punters because they cannot do without them. 

           Then they have syndicates within the Club itself. The clubs too have fights with each other. One remembers the dispute between BTC and RWITC  ,regarding sharing the commission on Off Course betting. It is impossible for these clubs to arrive at a comman system because some clubs feel more equal than the others. Given a choice  , each club would prefer to conduct off course betting. Some clubs have aversion to tote punters. It would not have been impossible for the Turf Authorities of India to devise an All India Pool when the going was good. Now they have an uphill task! 

Sharmaji

                Small correction. The word “ horse lovers “ should be substituted by “racing addicts”. After all, call a spade a spade.

Mr Racewalla,your suggestion are needed that all HT writers should think about. At this juncture as you told common centralised tote system should be introduced.Apart bookies this will curb the fraud tax deduction of race clubs. What I understand for different pools different slab system they are following (at least at Hyderabad,if I am wrong please correct me)it seems for some pools they are deducting 30to40 percent also.May be this made the Government to charge 28% GST. Punters doubt that proper Audit of these race courses is being done regularly or not . Never a race course exhibits or releases it’s balance sheet of   any year.  If common centralised  tote system is introduced there will be common tax deduction for all the pools. They are plying tricks with punters, but they can’t play with other race course centers.A common body may Audit all the centers involved. If RWITC    decide the minimum tote will be Rs 5/- like Hyderabad, it’s well and good. If Hyderabad,Bangalore,Mysore,Pune and Mumbai race courses come together and form a team for implementing the common centralised tote system punters will be very happy and welcome it 

Even if the State Govt. Give Permission, I think at Pune RWITC have also to take Permission from the Army People as the racecourse is situated in the Cantonment area, and also the Head Quarter of Southern Command , where all the Top Army Brass stay and work icluding Jawans., and in around they have their Bunglows , and houses.  Anyway lets hope for the best for start of the Mini Pune season 2020, and with the Covid spreding fast in Hyderabad, Bamgalore and Pune as per the news in todays paper.

Apropos   excerpts  from   Mahendra  Mallaya's   conversation  with  Zavary Poonawalla as posted on 16 Jul 20 . It is heartening to note  that  RWITC is framing a 15 day racing  programme at  Pune which  includes graded races like Pune Derby  and  Indian St Leger . ZSP  has also  stated  that  he is on the verge of getting  clearance  for the  online  betting  from  the  authorities which has already been granted to  BTC and  RCTC  by  the government in their   states  . This   is   an    opportunity    for  all  race    clubs  to  reinvent  themselves  and   redeem    their    sagging    reputation   by working jointly towards a   common centralised   totaliser which  will cleanse the system  of fraud practised  by bookmakers  and generate sufficient funds to solve their financial  woes inspite of  high  GST rates .I  do not   think   licencing  select bookmakers   duly monitored   by   RWITC as   mooted   by ZSP  is in order given  the inability of every race club to haul them up for tax evasion in their premises . There is also  a need  for some  innovative steps like syndicated ownership to   attract   new owners  and   place  restrictions   on  number of horses   per owner as  well  as   trainer    to   promote   fair competition and eliminate    monopoly   by any one in horse racing . As for the safety aspect during racing    is concerned ,    we can trust   ZSP   with   it   as he has the  capabilities and experience to ensure safe racing as is being done in many race courses  across the world . This bold step of starting  horse racing with a new format  and   protocol     best suited    for   the prevailing  situation is  appreciated .   it   is hoped  that   this    initiative  will gradually usher a new phase  of fairness and transparency  in horse   racing with huge turnover of the    centralised     totaliser which may force the government  to  lower  tax rates    for an increase in tax collection .   All we need  now   is some divine intervention to stem the covid tide . Good luck to Zavary Poonawalla  and RWITC .

With due respects to RWITC Chairman Mr Z Poonawalla, I wish to place here that whatever he had said in the interview only sound "hypothetical". There has been no confirmation of all arrangements in place and, more importantly, the tentative dates for conducting racing in Pune, one of the severely-affected centres in post-Corona.

Going by the sudden spurt in the cases all over India (in fact, the increase has been unprecedented in the last week or so), particularly Maharashtra, nothing looks promising for a quick start of racing anywhere in India. The less said about Pune racing the better.

I'm not trying to upset punters waiting on wings to place their bets online but the ground reality is much different what has been said with hope in the interview. The Maharashtra CM, who has himself managed to take the coveted post with gread difficulty, will be the last person to take any risks by giving the green signal to RWITC in the present conditions.

I personally feel all the race-courses will unanimously resolve not to conduct races this year to help the respective state governments and the Centre in the ongoing rigorous fight against the pandemic. We may have to wait, indefinitely though.

friends:

Dr.Cyrus Poonawala is well known in international circle and he maintains good relation with all international clubs including Honkong Jockey Club.

So have no fear and he is sure to succeed in all his endeavours.

We all wish him good luck and success

Ayyarnet

If Pune season starts this year, the event should be called MAHAMARI 2020 

............RWITC likely to keep minimum bet to as small as Rs 5/..................

But what about GST ,if its 28% its futile even if the minimum bet is kept Re1