TIMES OF INDIA
14-07-2010
BY Shailendra Awasthi
Rain Or Sun-shine, Dual Utility Track Can Withstand All
Pune: So what if the clouds are playing hide & seek even as the racing season is at the doorstep? Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC)’s curator BN Nanjapa is unperturbed. His confidence is understandable as he knows be it rain or sunshine, the racing season will not be affected in Pune thanks to its unique race track.
The only one of its kind in India, the Pune grass track can hold races even in heavy rain. Even Hyderabad or Kolkata, the other two centres in the country that boast of having a proper monsoon track, don’t have such a luxury.“In June-July 2004, we had almost a month of incessant rains. Yet, we managed to start the season on time. Not a single race was cancelled,’’ Nanjapa told TOI on Tuesday.
ON YOUR MARKS, GET, SET, GO: The new turf at the Pune Race Course has ensured that few race-days get cancelled despite the elements not being too pleasant. The racing season kicks off on Thursday
Before the dual utility track was put into place in 1992, about 15 days of the 35-day season would fall prey to nature’s fury resulting in huge financial losses. Now with this allweather track in place, not more than 15 race-days have been cancelled in the last 18 years. “Those cancellations too happened only when race-enthusiasts failed to make it to the race course due to heavy rain and flooding,’’ says 54-year-old Nanjapa, also known as clerk of the course in racing parlance.
The 73-feet wide and 2000 metrelong race track has both the main track and the monsoon track from 1600 metres onwards. The monsoon track is spread 27-feet wide and the remaining 46-feet is left for the main track. If it suddenly starts pouring midway after bright sunshine, the false rails that act as a divider are removed and the race is shifted to the monsoon track. “We need just half-an-hour to change from the main track to the monsoon track,’’ says Nanjapa.
While the main track in Pune is made up of black cotton soil with red earth on top, the monsoon track was prepared by putting layers of different. The soil consists of murrum, brought from a top crust of a hill, broken bricks, and clean graded sand (64 gauge sand) which allows grass to grow out of the soil below and provides the track a greenish look. It drains the water well and never allows flooding. Even if there is water on the surface, it is drained out with the help of slopes that tilt inwards of the winning post.
“It costs us around Rs 50 lakh per year to maintain the dual track,’’ says Nanjapa, who employs 130 people in three different shifts to maintain the track in top condition.
