Pune racetrack beckons

The Pune racetrack

The Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) has announced 23 days of action-packed racing for the Pune monsoon season which will get underway on Thursday. Besides 13 regular race days, there will also be 10 special race days in aid of various local charities.

Trophies galore
As per the prospectus published on the RWITC website, 149 races have been slated over the three-month long monsoon campaign, of which the lion's share will go to class IV horses (43 races, 16 trophies) & the three-year-olds (31 races, 19 trophies). Of course, with the division splits for crowded fields, these numbers will go up considerably. For the top drawer horses comprising classes I & II, as also 4y&over, there will be 26 events, of which a substantial 22 will be the trophy races.

Important races
The season is expected to warm up next month with the running of the Mayor Baburao Sanas Independence Million, an extremely popular race with the connections of class IV horses; and gradually progress through graded races like the F D Wadia (Sun, Aug 24), S A Poonawalla Million (Sun, Sep 15), culminating in the Gr 1 Pune Derby (Sun, Oct 13). The only other Gr 1 race of the season, the Indian St Leger (2800m), will be run on Sun, Sep 22. The Southern Command Gold Trophy will be feature on Sun, September 1, and the day, as usual, will be marked by spectacular ground and aerial show by our brave soldiers.

915
No. of horses taking part in the Pune races

76
No. of jockeys scheduled to ride at the Pune races

37
No. of trainers registered for the Pune races

Race dates

July: Thu, 25th; Fri, 26th.
August: Sat, 3rd; Sun, 4th; Sat, 10th; Thu, 15th; Fri, 16th; Sat, 24th; Sun, 25th; Sat, 31st.
September: Sun, 1st; Sat, 7th; Sat, 14th; Sun, 15th, Sat, 21st; Sun, 22nd; Sat, 28th.
October: Sat, 5th; Sun, 6th; Sat, 12th; Sun, 13th; Fri, 25th; Sat, 26th.

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