The Mumbai races begin today with a truncated 28 days of racing as horses were hit by Equine Influenza (EI).

An obviously relieved Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) panel comprising club chairman Cyrus Poonawalla and head of the media and marketing committee, Vivek Jain. Poonawalla announced that there were, "super fields" in all races and the prolonged, "rest the horses have got seemed to have helped them.

Poonawalla's announcement that the gutted deck of the members' stand is to be rebuilt with clearances obtained by the club was greeted with hearty applause.u00a0

Jain announced an array of sponsors for the season with the 26/11 terror attacks factored in. The club will hold, 'The Mumbai Martyrs Memorial Trophy' saluting the brave hearts will also feature in the race card on the weekend. An important fixture would be the MiD DAY Cup, scheduled to be run on February 15.

There is prize money of Rs 10 crore for 28 days, indicating that recession has not hit race sponsorship, with the McDowell Indian Derby to be run in early April this year. Incidentally, the prestigious Turf Invitation Cup, which was to be held in Mumbai in 2009 after five years and was cancelled will be held here in 2010.