Action shifts to Pune from Mumbai after a break of three months. The copious rains have helped the authorities to prepare what appears a much better race track than ever before. The 24-day racing season is set to start on Thursday, July 28. The season promises action-packed racing. If the extended monsoon track holds up, racing will surely be of high quality. Leading trainers like Pesi Shroff should be more active during the Pune season than ever before as the champion had given the Bangalore season a miss. A host of classic hopefuls from his stable along with established stars like Myrtlewood and Adam are sure to add value to the season. Trainer Dallas Todywalla has many horses which are in forward condition and should strike early along with Pune champion Narendra Lagad.

Mr. Vivek Jain, Chairman of the Marketing Committee of the Club, briefed newsmen of the highlights of the season on Monday. ``The season will be a shortened one this season as only 24 days of racing has been programmed as against 27 last year because of the delayed start due to fear of drought conditions. Racing closes on October 22 and there will be no racing on the last weekend of October because of Diwali,`` Jain said. ``The advertised prize money is 8. 31 crore as against 9. 31 crore in 2015. On a per day average, the stakes are on par with last season. However, after taking into account divided races and performance bonus, the actual payout will be in excess of 11 crore, he added.

With the Nanoli Stud Farm backing out from sponsoring the Pune Derby after a long association, the club has brought in UB Group to sponsor the season`s most prestigious event. The Kingfisher Ultra Pune Derby has been scheduled for Sunday, October 16.

The last and longest of the Indian classics, The Indian St Leger, also has a new sponsor. Gourmet Renaissance will be sponsoring the race. A huge Festival is being planned along with the mega race. Bangalore has now made its St.Leger open to older horses, as in the UK, and the RWITC Stewards will deliberate whether we should follow suit, or keep the Indian Triple Crown format unchanged, Mr. Jain said.

``Tattersalls of the UK, will be our only international sponsor. Our traditional Irish partners will be absent just for this season, as they exhausted their budgets with their support to the Asian Racing Conference. Tattersalls will sponsor the only two-year-old race of the season, which will also be the first million for this age group anywhere in the country in the new racing year 2016-17, Mr Jain explained.

``The club is hoping to bring a new dimension to our live streaming on rwitc.com. The Committee has increased subscription charges for live streaming to Rs 10,000 per annum, as a revenue-raising measure, but we hope to compensate this by improved content,`` Jain reasoned out explain the rationale behind the increase in charges which has not gone down well with the majority of racegoers who are finding racing more expensive than ever before.

The popular LED screen will once again bring live action just across the track. A small portion of the Second Deck of the main Grand Stand will be air conditioned for use of owners. The existing stand diagonally across the Paddock is now air conditioned for the use of the members/ owners and additional seating has been provided to the General Public areas. The inner sand track is refurbished. The rainfall has been good and the track is looking a verdant green with an
With the declining foal crop from a high of 1902 in 2011, to just 1280 in 2016, the number of horses in Western India have also come down. As of today, there are just 1207 horses in Pune as against 1333 at the same time last year. This has eased the perennial problem of stables at Pune, and while fields may be smaller, at least they may be more manageable with less crowding.

Mr. Jain said that the club believed in promoting racing weekends as top class leisure ones. ``We have lined up Oktoberfest on Derby Weekend, the Hello Awards on the St Leger weekend, Blue Frog at the races on the eve of Independence Day, a Blue Frog evening with live music and comedy at the Turf Club House to give you days of fashion and style on the Radio One and Panchshil days and much more as we go along a packed Calendar. The first-time sponsor, Sound Factor will bring the Sound Factor Videotheque on their race day- giant screens bringing you the best live concerts with awesome sound. A surreal experience not to be missed!`` Mr. Jain said.