Like a farmer, Behram Engineer scans the skies with an intense gaze. Unlike the farmer, he fervently prays the rain clouds don't show up
Like a farmer, Behram Engineer scans the skies with an intense gaze. Unlike the farmer, he fervently prays the rain clouds don't show up. The secretary of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) Ltd has to make arrangements for stabling over 1,000 thoroughbreds that will be coming to the city to participate in the 2010-11 Mahalaxmi racing season scheduled to commence on November 14.
"Our policy at the moment is 'wait & watch'," Engineer told MiD DAY, "if it doesn't rain again, racing will begin as scheduled." He admitted that the latest showers three days ago have posed problems.
Behram Engineer's confidence stems from the fact that the RWITC's administrative and track maintenance team have not one, but two contingency plans in place, should rains continue to threaten in the near future. If it rains, but only mildly, Engineer told MiD DAY they would hold back all horses in Pune except the ones scheduled to run on November 14 and 18, the first two scheduled days of Mumbai racing.
Dry
"We have some stabling area (English Lines) on high grounds which will still remain dry," Engineer explained, "and we can house the first two days' runners there ufffd of course, there won't be trainer-wise stables then, but racing can go on." What if it rains heavily? "If that happens then no horses will move to Mumbai, and the first two days of the Mumbai racing season will be conducted on the Pune racetrack," Engineer said.
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