RWITC rift to the fore

PUNE: As the Pune season nears its end, a lot of differences are cropping up among the members of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC).

With the Mumbai racing round the corner, the rift between RWITC
president Cyrus Poonawalla and Vivek Jain (chairman, marketing and media) is widening. There is also intense lobbying for the elections later this year.

The bone of contention seems to be the announcement made by Poonawalla that he intends to continue in his chair, a shift from his earlier position that he would step down at the end of the season.

“I will continue to do what I have been doing for the past few years… The rift could be more visible as the days progress”, said Jain. Poonawalla refused to comment, saying that he will be more forthcoming next week after which he stormed out of the Sunday meeting at the Pune race course.

The Pune season signs off with the two-day race scheduled for Friday and Saturday this week, and the focus will then shift to Mahalaxmi when the season kicks off later this month.

But, much more than racing, it would be the RWITC elections, which promises to be a more interesting affair.