PUNE: After being canceled for two sessions in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year, the Pune racing season kicked off on July 28, all set to see 18 race days and prize money of over Rs9 crore.
Weeks later, the racing season finale was held on Sunday, November 6, with the Poona Derby Carnival at the Pune Race Course in Pune Cantonment.
The event, organised by the Royal Western India Turf Club Limited (RWITC) in collaboration with Betway, an online gambling company, curated a number of food and beverage pop-ups, an eating area, and live performances by bands and DJs.
“It’s great to see that many people have come with their families to enjoy the carnival. It is encouraging to see that there are still many youngsters interested in an old tradition like horse racing,” said an attendee at the event.
Anit Casyab, deputy general manager (marketing), RWITC, told TOI, “The way forward is to bring in younger crowds. To do so, we will be organising more events and entertainment at the race course. During the racing season this year, we also took up various initiatives, wherein we invited local 100 sketch artists to the property to pencil various parts of the race course. We also had many city-based photographers come and take pictures of the morning track work, building, and so on. All their works were displayed on a race day.”
He added, “With no races in 2020 and 2021, this year, we saw a considerable rise in footfall. The season featured great competitive racing and a lot of sponsors also came on board. We are now headed to Mumbai, where the racing season will start on November 20. We have planned many entertaining events to attract younger crowds. We are planning to continue adding more entertainment events during the racing season in Pune next year as well to cater to the younger generation.”
Article: TOI
