Night-Racing Debuts At RWITC, Enthralls City - By Shailendra Awasthi I TOI
Posted on - 19 Apr 2015
Night-Racing Debuts At RWITC, Enthralls City
By Shailendra Awasthi
Times of India
A carnival like atmosphere greeted the enthusiastic Saturday crowd at the picturesque Mahalaxmi Racecourse on Saturday evening where the Royal Western Indian Turf Club (RWITC) held its first ever night races in the history of Indian horse racing. A packed stand and the front lawns full of people of all ages saw a glittering opening ceremony with spectacular fireworks enthralling the 15,000 strong crowds.
A huge roar greeted the six-year-old mare Mighty Splendor when she hit the wires in a very close contest beating Spear Of Trium to win the first ever race under floodlights. It marked the dawn of a new era and put an end to all the doubts that were there whenever the talks of staging races under lights used to come up in the past. “This is what we needed,“ said Fazal Khanbhai, a young man from Bandra who was there to witness the new addition to the Mumbai nightlife. “It should become the new venue for us young people to spend a perfect evening at this wonderful racecourse,“ he added.
A variety of food and drinks options with music and entertainment impressed one and all from cross sections of the society . “I brought my entire family for the first time to the racecourse and they said they never thought it is such a fantastic place for a pleasant evening,“ said Ajay Ganguly from Andheri.
Termed as trials, the action under lights exceeded all expectation RWITC officials had about the opening evening show and they vowed to take it to a new level in the next Mumbai season. “We will make Mahalaxmi Racecourse the next evening destination in Mumbai,“ said an elated RWITC chairman Khushroo Dhunjibhoy . “The response from the Mumbaikers was mindboggling,“ he added.
“We will certainly make it a must feature during the next Mumbai season,“ declared Ram Shroff, the brain behind the project.
“We will have to work out how we can make it more attractive and how frequently ,“ he added.
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