The Magic of the Indian Derby - By Tariq Vaidya
Posted on - 01 Feb 2012
The Magic of the Indian Derby
By Tariq Vaidya
Many people ask me why the Derby is so special and why, by the time the first Sunday in February comes around, everyone they know connected to racing can't wait for the big day. In a nutshell, the Indian Derby, run over a mile and half, is the race of the year, the race everyone wants to win and is the ultimate test of a horse's stamina and speed.
My first recollection of the Indian Derby was in the mid-seventies when, as children, we used to watch this great event from just outside the turnstiles (next to Gallops) of the racecourse. In fact, for most of the afternoon we would feast on home-made snacks provided by Dolly Byramji (whose husband R R Byramji virtually dominated the Derby in the seventies and eighties, winning the race more times than I can remember!) and the late Pervin Mehta on one of the concrete stands close to the 2000 meter marker under a large umbrella and only fight for seats near the turnstiles when the Derby was about to begin! I'm happy to report that most of the usual suspects growing up then, including Mehli Nazir, Rahul Bhat, Shireen Adenwalla, Cyrus Mehta, Neesha Khatau (now Malaney) and Mohit Lalvani are avid racegoers even today.
The first Derby I ever watched was in 1977 and was won by probably the greatest horse of all time, Squanderer. In fact, those were the days when almost every Derby was being won by Rahul's late father Ranjit Bhat. Commanche, Squanderer, Manitou and Mohawk (all trained by Byramji) won four Derbys for him in five years and each win was as brilliant as the previous one. Manitou, ridden by Vasant Shinde wasn't bred to stay but still won by 10 lengths. Mohawk and Wally Swinburn, the father of Walter Swinburn who won the Epsom Derby on the ill-fated Shergar, the lucky Sharastani and the brilliant Lammtarra, won easing up by 3 or 4 lengths.
In between Manitou and Mohawk, Royal Tern, owned by the most powerful connections in those days, the Goculdas', won very comfortably from El Bravo with the late Karl Umrigar astride who was then just a teenager. Another distinct memory is Sandy Barclay's fantastic ride on Track Lightening (owned by Neesha's late father) who went lame during the race but was coaxed to win on the outer tan track from Christoffe and Happy Landing.
Through the eighties and nineties Pesi Shroff's liaison with the Indian Derby was akin to Lester Piggott's linkage to the Epsom Derby. He won it a total of eight times on many great horses including Enterprising, the classy Exhilaration, Desert Warrior, Littleover, Starfire Girl and Psychic Flame. Those were the days when old ladies and pensioners would suddenly become keen racing enthusiasts in the first week of February, pull out their ten rupee notes and ask 'What is Pesi riding?' Pesi's best Derby ride of them all came on Storm Again (owned jointly by Dr Vijay Mallya and Dr Cyrus Poonawalla) when he slipped away from the field at the top of the straight and built up a commanding lead that the others including Aslam Kader on the favourite, Allaire failed to bridge. Aslam for the record, also won three Derbies including the resolute Deepak Khaitan owned Elusive Pimpernel and the Bezan Chenoy trained Astonish who later was exported to Hong Kong and went on to become the first Indian horse to win abroad.
The King of the Turf in the eighties and nineties, Dr MAM Ramaswamy, who is in the Guinness book of world records for winning over 500 classics, had to wait a long time to win his first Derby. He has now won five or six including Amazing Bay, Starsky and the gutsy Diabolical who beat his own Southern Empire convincingly. However, the best of them all was undoubtedly Smart Chieftan who was confidently ridden by Richard Hughes to deliver his challenge with under a furlong to go. The one that got away was Mystical who just had a bad day in the office on Derby Day when losing out to Velvet Rope, but won everything in sight before and after the Derbyincluding two races in Dubai!
Fillies have had a reasonably good record in recent years. Dr Mallya's first Derby win was on a Byramji trained filly called Cordon Bleu in 1988. In fact, he had three other horses in that race, Kir Royale, Enrico and Divine Light that were supposed to fare better than Cordon Bleu. Cordon Bleu and Mick Kinane won at 22/1 and there was one cherubic eighteen year old who didn't stop bragging about his pick for days thereafter! Kinane retired 20 years later after partnering the greatest horse I have ever seen, Sea The Stars, to six Group 1 wins across varying distances in 6 months, including the Epsom Derby. Dr Mallya has gone on to win three more Derbies including Storm Again. For him, the one that got away was another filly, Set Alight, who led the 2009 field till the last 75 yards only to be collared by the gallant Antonios at the wire.
And then, who can forget the two super fillies who won the Derby in 2010 and 2011, Jacqueline and Moonlight Romance. Jackie, as she was affectionately called, gave Pesi his first Derby winner as a trainer and swept a record four Indian classics. Moonlight Romance was as tough as old boots and on the way to winning three 2400 meter G1s in 45 days, outsmarted Ocean and Beyond and gave C D Katrak his first Derby win.
So who will win this year's Derby? Will the Bangalore Derby and Indian 2000 guineas winner Pronto Pronto give Shapoor Mistry his first ever Indian Derby winner? Will the Indian Oaks winner, Smashing become another Derby winning filly for Dr Mallya? Will the Pune Derby winner, Hills and Stars win for Vinayak and Richard Hughes? Or will the Kolkata Derby heroine, In The Spotlight be Capt. Jamshed Appoo's and S Padmanabhan's first ever Derby winner? It's hard to split them though on paper Pronto Pronto is the one to beat. However, races are not run and won on paper! Moreover, as three of the top four contenders are fillies, how they look when they are paraded in the paddock will play a big part.
I will certainly be at Mahalaxmi to renew my romance with this great race. Will you?
(Tariq Vaidya is a RWITC Club member, owner, and racing enthusiast )
