The Horse Race in Pune

The picture above was clicked about two years ago but was never used in any blog.  I keep passing through this way (the race course) on a regular basis and have seen this guy peering out most of the time. I wonder if he is thinking about the free world outside. 

I like the area around the race course. It has still maintained its old world charm with bamboo trees, bungalows and picket fence 

While enjoying the Oktoberfest, I got to see the horse race. In fact this is the first live race that I have witnessed. Frankly speaking I have no idea of how to bet, nor to calculate the probabilities of a winning horse. 

But I was mighty impressed by the way the race was conducted with everything well planned and executed. There was no time lapse between races, but at the same time there was enough time provided for people to place their bets. 

Huge screens and small TV screen were provided at strategic places to follow the race. 

After every race there were some cleaners who went through the complete track, probably making sure that it was race worthy for the next race.

It was interesting to note that everyone had a Cole race card, commonly known as the ‘Cole Book’. It is the Bible for the race goers. The blue and white cover of this book has never changed for the last 94 years and is supplied to race courses at Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangaluru, Mysore and Kolkata.  

I noticed some frantic last minute betting at these kiosks 

In the foyer there was a top view of the layout of the race course with some detailed information of the gradient of the starting point and the ending point.

It seems these gradients are also taken into consideration when preparing the Cole book to assess the performance of a horse. 

I liked the way the ambiance of the enclosure is maintained. The woodwork, the latches, and the balustrades are just the same as they were during the British era.

The famous Deccan Queen was started in 1930 as a weekend train for the British people in India to ferry race fans from Bombay (Mumbai) to Poona (Pune)

Somehow I missed those fancy hats which is synonymous with races, but still there were some interesting ones 

The Indo German Chamber of Commerce and the DieSulmtaler band was in attendance during the last race of the day. 

Observed that people from all walks of life converge on this point when it comes to betting. You can see the anxiety and the suspense written on these faces as they keenly observe the giant screen to see if “their horse” is in the lead. 

I was observing this old man, with the small chit in his hand where he had jotted down all the probabilities, but the final result did not match, as can be seen from his face. Probably an old timer, who thinks of making it big one day.

Made a small video of my experience of the day.