Procam International - PRESS RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE - December 10, 2011

Horse Racing in India is poised to take a giant leap, from its traditional look and approach to a dashing, racy, young and appealing to all sparkling new avatar --R1.

Seeking to bring about a revolutionary change in the manner in which horse racing has been presented so far, R1 will alsolookto change the general perception of the sport, in the process attracting to this magnificent sport millions and millions of fans who never had the opportunity of experiencing its magic.

R1, a property owned jointly by the Bennett Coleman Group and Procam International, has been created to connect with a greater cross section of society and drive newer audiences to the sport, besides positioning it as cool and trendy.

As opposed to only carrying coverage on Race Days, R1,through its various mediums will focus on the various nuances of the sport,besides touching upon its history and culture, allowing newer audiences the opportunity to understand the legacy and tradition that surrounds the sport.

This was announced by Ravi Dhariwal, CEO Bennett Coleman Group, in the presence of Anil Singh, Managing Director Procam International, Vivek Jain, Chairman RWITC and Atul Pande of Ten Sports. Also present on the occasion were renowned personalities associated with the varied facets of the sport, like Zavareh Poonawala, Imtiaz Sait, Bezan Chenoy and Pesi Shroff, to name a few.

The property, in its inaugural year, will cover 13 races, including the Classics and other key races in the cities of Mumbai and Pune, with Kolkata and Hyderabad on the anvil. R1 will also cover the Classics in Bangalore, in partnership with the Bangalore Turf Club.

The races encapsulated in R1 will include:
Mumbai
	Indian 1000 Guineas	December 11, 2011
	So Bo Central 2000 Guineas	December 18, 2011
	Indian Oaks	January 22, 2012
	McDowell's Signature Indian Derby	February 5, 2012
	Poonawala Multi-Million	February 26, 2012

Bangalore
	Indian Invitation Cup	March 3 & 4, 2012
	Kingfisher Bangalore Derby	July 1, 2012
	Colts
	Fillies

Pune
	Pune Derby
	Kingfisher Indian St. Ledger

Kolkata
	Kolkata Derby	January 8, 2012

Hyderabad
Hyderabad Derby
Besides driving extensive coverage in print, radio and television, R1 will be beamed live to every household through Ten Sports, which over the years has asserted itself as the definitive home of the Sport. While Ten Sports will showcase live pulsating action for two hours on each of the 13 race days, there will be promotions across a wide array of other channels including Ten Action+, Zee Café, Zee Studio, Zee News, Times Now, ET Now, ZOOM and various other regional news channels.

Presenting Horse Racing in a new avatar and aiming to change its perception is not a task to be taken lightly, hence it was imperative to seek out the best in the world to make this possible. The responsibility of taking the telecast of Horse Racing, in its new global approach, into another realm has been thrust upon the capable and renowned shoulders of Jim Ramsey, one of the finest producers and directors of Horse Racing in the world. Ramsey comes to R1 with impeccable credentials, having produced Channel 4 Racing, the Dubai World Cup, World Series Racing, BBC Racing and the Prix de I ‘Arc de Triomphe. Ramsey also set up the Race Club Broadcast and the channel, At the Races, as its Executive Producer.

Race day action will be hosted by the young and vibrant Samir Kocchar, while celebrated former female jockey and presenter Emma Spencer, along with Mohit Lalvani will form part of the panel in the studio. The content of the live telecast will be more interactive, racy and designed to keep the audience hooked and will be provided and edited by three personalities who have had long associations with the sport of horse racing in various capacities -- Cyrus Madan, Enrico Piperno and Chaiti Narula.

Some of the interesting new features that R1 will introduce are bound to make the sport of horse racing engaging and extremely viewer friendly, besides making the whole medium a lot more interactive than it has ever been in the past. There will be a fair amount of colour and excitement that will be showcased at the races through lifestyle and various other features, both live and recorded.

For the very first time in the history of the sport’s coverage, behind the scenes action will be captured, which include the jockeys’ room and the stewards room. Besides, the live world feed will include a host of new cameras which shall be included in the 20 camera set-up. These are the Super Slo-Mo Camera used in International cricket, Grand Slam Tennis, EPL and Champions League Soccer to capture nail biting finishes, while the 2 RF cameras will go all over the course to get back never before seen reactions of owners, trainers, breeders and, most importantly, the people watching the race, who make the sport what it is. Last but not the least, the Barrier camera will be brought back into play to show the moments as the horses get loaded, and the actual start of the race.

In an interesting new development the presentation ceremony and the winner’s interviews will be carried out from the paddock by the panel of hosts/experts, who will have full access to all the key individuals that form part of the winning horse’s troupe.

The Day’s Best, packaged in a racy and edgy format, will showcase the memorable moments of the day to add to the thrill of the broadcast. To connect with the viewer and make the broadcast interactive, viewers will be able to participate in various contests and win serious prizes though the SMS Integration planned for this season.

The thoroughbreds have been loaded. It’s time to settle down to some heart racing, pulsating, edge-of-the seat excitement.