India, Nov. 29 -- The Mumbai racing season got off to a sedate start with a small six-race card to kick-off the 26-day season. The cynosure of all eyes was the prep-run of the champion filly Fynbos, who did just enough to remain the favourite for the Indian 1,000 Guineas, scheduled for December 14. But truth be told it was far from an overwhelming performance. It's possible the five months lay-off may have caused her to be a trifle rusty, but other than Miracle Star, there still appears to be little to challenge her. The advertised prize money of Rs.22 crores, will surpass Rs.25 crores once the stakes for the Racing Carnival, with which the season ends on the first weekend of April, is published. The guaranteed prize money for the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas has been upped to Rs.75 lakhs though both are presently without sponsors. Cyrus Poonawalla replaces HPSL as the Indian Derby's sponsor and has guaranteed a total purse of Rs.4 crore, which could be the richest race ever to be run in India. Way ahead of Desert God's Indian Derby 2016 purse of the current record Rs.3.6 crore. Royal Western India's Turf Club (RWITC) continues to persist, somewhat dogmatically, with evening racing, which has not exactly set the Thames on fire. The idea was good, but now after several seasons of trials, the turnstiles have not moved. Perhaps the club ought to hire a professional agency with some expertise in sportainment to brainstorm and ideate options. Interestingly, I took a friend based in New York - an expert in AI powered wellness - to his first visit to a race day in India at Mahalaxmi on Thursday. At first he was bemused by the word "Mahalaxmi" where punters seek to strike "Lakshmi," but was taken aback at the poor footfalls and the quality of attendance not keeping up with the huge potential the area has. He quickly accessed a popular AI chat bot, which came up with multiple ideas on marketing and promotion. Some, not entirely new, were days around music, food, festival celebrations, build up to big days, attracting young professionals, premium memberships and much more. Ultimately, the sport must use data and AI algorithms to drive up interest beyond its narrow profile. AI is a tool the racing industry across all stakeholders can use to its advantage, more so the RWITC which is banking on just the Club House as its "Lakshmi" to take it home!...