THE PUNE DERBY (GR.1)

The Derby – the most prestigious day of any racing season is always perceived as a day to see, and more importantly to be seen at, and the Grade-1 Pune Derby is no exception.

The Derby at Pune was first run on Sunday, 7th October 1984 as “The Splendour Deluxe Pune Derby”. The inaugural running was won by “PRUDENTIAL CHAMP” owned by M/s. Cyrus S. Poonawalla, Z. S. Poonawalla, Solomon F. Sopher and Kumar R. Dalal, trained by Uttam Singh and ridden by Jockey Aslam Khader.
 

In 1987 it got Grade 2 status and was won by “KIR ROYALE” owned by Mr. & Mrs. Vijay Mallya and Major P. K. Mehra in a record time of 2:64 seconds. The winner was trained by Bezan Chenoy and ridden by Jockey V. Shinde. In the year 1989, it got Grade 1 status and was won by “DESERT WARRIOR” owned by Mrs. R. B. Jain trained by S. K. Sunderji and ridden by P. Shroff.

Sunday, 13th October 1996 saw the dawn of the “Nanoli Stud Pune Derby”. The maiden running of this race was won by “INDICTMENT” owned by Mr. K. N. Dhunjibhoy representing Five Star Shipping Co. Pvt. Ltd., Major P. K. Mehra and Ms. Ameeta Mehra trained by Vinayak and ridden by Jockey M. Narredu and won by a short head from Jaguar (S. N. Chavan).