A keen racing follower who writes to me frequently, surmised that "for a long time racing was confined to the wealthy, the whites (in the British era) and royalty and participation by the "hoi polloi" came slowly and much later. One of the reasons, which exists even today, is the sport's association with gambling and hence it was "considered off-limits" for "decent folks". And hence the sport has still not managed to find a "firm foothold in the Indian sociocultural mainstream" and interests too few.
Getting corporates to sponsor racing over the years, helped improve racing's profile, but clearly that was never going to be enough. While initiatives to monetize the centre of the green lung for music shows brings in the moolah, the focus has to be sports-centric. A sports bar to show live sporting events? The Club ought to be using its open space to promote, for example, home grown football and cricket leagues , and make it a mecca for sport. The peripheral benefits on the pending lease are manifold. Sports training for young children and events around open spaces and environment are not only desirable for the city but will be seen positively by the regulators.
The merit of the decision to relax the dress code can be judged on whether it will result in spiking footfalls. When I first got elected to the Committee many years ago and initiated the formation of a marketing sub committee, we conducted a perception study amongst members on various facets of the sport. One of which was on the desirability of a dress code, and from the over 1,000 responses we got, the verdict was split down the middle. Encouraging a dress code on the classic days, to recreate the aura of a day at the races could be tried with the smart and stylish winning prizes- not one, but several! Celebrities could be invited and rewarding them with a special category of membership- at least our sporting heroes , to create a splash on social media. And an "understanding" racing program for the youth be thought of to dispel the myths around the sport. Out of the box ideas, but anything and everything has to be tried.
