Record Breaking Mumbai Racing Season closes on a High - By Vivek Jain
Posted on - 28 Apr 2012
Record Breaking Mumbai Racing Season closes on a High
By Vivek Jain
The 44 day Mumbai racing season, spread over a stamina sapping five and a half months, finally draws its curtains on Sunday.
When the last race is flagged off at 6.30pm on Sunday, it would be Race 385, making it the biggest of any season in India. Not only the biggest by number, but also in quality, as Mahalaxmi is home to the Indian Classics, as also home to the highest number of graded and million races anywhere in the country.
The season ending Tata Housing Equine Excellence Racing Awards, recognizing performance for the full year 2011-12, is the fitting finale to what has been a grand season.
The figures speak for themselves. The tote betting and commission was on par with last season, arresting the dramatic fall noticed after the hike in betting tax in April 2010. Our representation to revert the tax to 10% has moved up the bureaucratic chain, and now awaits the CM’s nod to be placed before the Cabinet.
The attendance at Mumbai at about 225,000 till the concluding weekend, was up 16% on last year, the highest percentage increase, seen in years. A tribute to the tireless efforts to promote and market the sport through a range of activities.
Sponsorships have always been the RWITC’s trump card. Record sponsorships saw a sponsor on every weekend of the season, not a mean achievement, looking to the length of the season. Contributions at nearly 5.25 crore was a high for a single season, not including the Invitation Cup stakes of last year. The gross prize money disbursed of over 20 crore, is also a new benchmark, again omitting the one time stakes for the Invitation weekend last year. As many as 70 races were divided, and the enhanced 25% performance incentive paid to owners, has largely gone unnoticed. Another feature has been the spread of sponsorships to the ordinary handicaps, beyond the juveniles and classics with even a Million race in Class IV!
The jewel of the season had to be the McDowell Signature Premier Indian Derby Weekend, which drew over 30,000 to Mahalaxmi and truly showcased the sport in all its glory. And the drive to the victory podium in a horse drawn carriage was the icing on the cake!
However, what has really been a path breaking achievement, and set us apart, has been the initiatives under Tribe@Turf, and the endeavour to make our premises inclusive for the city, by a host of events that won all round appreciation. Culture, charity, sport, music, environment, heritage.. we included all in one wide sweep. Marathi Banaa, with the Lodha Foundation;Toumani Diabate with ICCR: charity drives for the Indian Cancer Society, Sneha and the Mewsic Foundation; iconic stars such as Sonu Nigam with the Rotary Club and Shankar Ehsaan Loy Unplugged. Sporting initiatives by starting football training for children with leading academies and other sport too, and our support to the Junior Equestrian Championships and Polo at the ARC. We made a path breaking start to suppot open spaces with an exhibit,Breathing Space, in association with Citispace and offered our venue for Pranic Healing practioners and a cultural feast Jatra with AGP.
We have now been approached by other charitable organisations such as Concern India and Breast Cancer Foundation to support their causes at the Club.
What has all this got to do with the RWITC? We must recognize that our Club has been given the rights to manage not only the sport of racing, but also oversee the 220 acres green lung in the heart of South Mumbai. These myriad activities have showcased the Club and the sport to a cross section of society, and also established the Club’s leadership and vision in stepping out of its comfort zone and doing more, much more, for Mumbai. We are sending a message to the bureaucrats and the politicians that the RWITC has what it takes to make a difference to the city.
Racing has always been a glamour sport, and our association with fashion and style is almost legendary. We kept the shutterbugs busy with such big names as Bipasha Basu, Vidya Balan, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Dharmendra, Nargis Fakhri, to name a few, who were our guests this season, To answer our critics, they were ambassadors of our sponsors, and there was no investment by the RWITC on their presence. These events got us into the society pages and racing at Mahalaxmi was talked of as a place to see- and be seen!
We walked several miles to promote the sport, backed by a zealous and full of ideas, Marketing Group. Hoof Print, Live streaming on rwitc.com; the launch of R1 by BCCL-Procam, kept racing on the centre pages through the season, Each of these were first time efforts by any Club in India. Next on the agenda? Possibly a full length feature film to capture the glory of the sport.
The Club’s foray in the social media space is growing rapidly. Facebook, Twitter, Tribe@Turf, rwitc.com, photography shoots, contests and more have drawn a legion of new supporters to the Turf.
The RWITC Committee has recently approved two important projects which deserve mention- one, the hiring of a professional security agency to upscale security, vigilance and surveillance at both Pune and Mumbai and two, an in principle sanction to implement the first phase towards High Definition CCTV coverage.
And as if by some divine blessing, we close with a spiritual touch, with a devotional evening to commemorate the first anniversary of Baba’s Mahasamadhi on May Day.
Yes! Even the God’s are smiling…
