Calcutta: Royal Western India Turf Club went ‘live’ in the year 1999, Bangalore followed suit soon after. Pune, Mysore and Hyderabad were next in line and now it is the turn of Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC) to join the select band already beaming live coverage of their racing nationwide, according to sources in RCTC.

Come July, the turf clubs like Hyderabad Race Club, Madras Race Club, Mysore Race Club will become RCTC’s regular clients to receive live pictures of city racing and conduct betting at their centres. Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore, too, are showing interest but not on a regular basis. They will, however, significantly increase the number of race days on their calendars compared to the last season.

The Calcutta monsoon season begins from July 8 but the live telecast may have to wait for some time as the required equipments are likely to arrive only by the second week. The other infrastructure for sending and receiving signals will be ready by the end of the month.

It may not have been an easy decision for the club considering its pressing financial state. But the new feature may help it ease some pressure. “We are expecting about 25 per cent increase in the off-course turnover by the winter season,” said Boman Parakh, RCTC secretary.

Parakh also had an answer for those worrying about the picture quality at the receiving centres. “The obsolete RCTC cameras at the racecourse will be replaced by new sets of digital cameras,” said Parakh. “The seven Sony cameras — including the two for paddocks and finishing line — are going to be as good as those presently used by Mumbai and Bangalore,” according to Parakh. However, in view of the fact that the infrastructure and the new set of cameras will cost over Rs 1 crore, RCTC has decided to hire the lot from a Hyderabad company which has promised upgradation of equipments every three years.

“The sharpness and clarity of images was the need of the hour in view of RCTC’s plans of live coverage. Split images in the home-run apart, the camera capturing the head-on view will be placed only 18 feet above the ground for better viewing,” Parakh added.