Thursday, August 27, 2009

Introduction To My Candidature

Dear Club Member,

I write to you today to inform you of my candidature for the RWITC Managing Committee elections to be held in December 2009. The purpose of writing to you this early is to introduce myself, especially for the benefit of our new members who were not there during my earlier term as a Committee Member from 2002-2004. This early correspondence would hopefully give us a chance to get to know each other better before December and moreover, give you enough time to get to know your Candidate.

My introduction to racing turned to a passion while sitting on the children's bench in the Mahalaxmi Race Course car park at a very early age and I have been an avid racegoer and owner as soon as I was of an eligible age in 1988, and continue to own a small string of horses and breed privately/non-commercially in a small way in the name of my racing company Gainsville Stud & Agr. Farm Pvt. Ltd. (www.gainsvillestud.com). My family's association with the sport goes back decades and my parents Laxmi & Partab Lala have had the good fortune to co-own classic winners like Our Select (Indian Derby 1968), Bright Hanovar (Indian Derby 1971) and Bakhtawar (with the late Mr. M.D.Mehta) which set the standards of achievement and moderate success more recently with Minsky, Classic Talk, Starynsky and Star O'War has helped appreciate clean and fair racing.
It was 10 years ago, in 1999 that I was nominated as a "Steward of the Meeting" and served in that position for 2 years, after which, with the overwhelming support of the members, I was elected to the RWITC Managing Committee in 2002 and served in that post for two years, before taking a break. During that period I was also a "Steward of the Club" for 3 years where I have always been fair and unbiased in my decisions in my humble attempt to keep racing fair and clean. Further, I have served and continue to serve on various sub-committees like the Cups & Trophies, Equine Hospital, Studbook, etc. and for the last two years, I have served on the Managing Committee of the Western India Race Horse Owners' Association where along with other members, I believe, we have done a lot for the benefit of racehorse owners. Having been involved with all facets of the sport, I sincerely feel I am in a position to contribute more generously given the responsibility as a member of the Committee once again.

On a personal level, my MBA degree in Marketing has helped me run my packaging business. I hope that in the near future we can connect and share views on our Club and the sport that we all love so much. Thank you for your time and looking forward to talking with you soon.

Sincerely yours,
Gautam Lala