Blaze of International sponsorships brings Pune to a Fantastic Close - By Vivek Jain
Posted on - 24 Oct 2013
Blaze of International sponsorships brings Pune to a Fantastic Close
By Vivek Jain
The 29 day Pune monsoon racing season has a fitting climax over the weekend with six sponsored races, five of which are by Irish entities, making it virtually an Irish weekend.
If Munich came to Pune just two weeks ago, its now the turn of Ireland, a country rich in throughbred heritage.
With sponsorships at about 30 lacs for the weekend, of which 25 lacs comes from our Irish sponsors, it will be the biggest single “international” weekend of racing by a race Club anywhere in India.
Leading the way is the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) and Goffs, who once again join hands to contribute to the RWITC Gold Cup (Gr 2). The race besides offering a guaranteed 2 million purse, the richest of the season for older horses, has an interesting runner in An Acquired Taste. The chestnut has already scooped the Stayers’ Championship bonus of 1 million by winning the first two legs and his mere taking part gets the colt a well deserved bonus. That he also won the McDowell Indian St Leger, not part of the series, is a liberal dose of icing on the cake!
ITM was the first to partner with the RWITC some years ago, and Goffs, a famous auction house, continues their association.
ITM also host a grand cocktails and dinner on Saturday night, at the Turf Club House, and I have invited Zia Nath, a reputed Sufi dancer to perform Sufi Splendour, a dance presentation to the background of Sufi music. It should regale our international guests. And the presence of the Irish Ambassador and other guests will be a memorable sign off to the season.
Coolmore, home to the world’s highest rank stallion, Galileo, sponsor the Coolmore Million, quite obviously a prep for the Guineas races in Mumbai. An attractive field of highly ranked youngsters, mostly fillies will be a sure pointer to The Indian 1,000 Guineas, billed for December 15th.
RWITC’s newest sponsor from Ireland, Thoroughbred Remedies Mfg, a supplements company, step in with a mighty presence. They also host a High Tea on Saturdayand get to present two trophies, the race being divided!
Sunday’s racing features Connolly’s Red Mills as the prime contributor. The feeds company who made their debut last year, steps up their presence with a Million for two year olds, making it the first million of the season in the country for the new crop. And as a further feather in their cap they also sponsor the Racing Excellence Awards, to honour excellence at the Pune season, the points tally replicating the Turf Authorities formula.
And finally the Pune Bookmakers’ Association, not to be denied, sponsor a 5 lac race for horses in Class V, making it the richest race for this class, perhaps anywhere in India.
A fantastic finale, you would agree!
