New Sires for 2007 and a Primer to Racing in India

[bonzer]

Other than what I occasionally see on a sales catalogue page...I have little knowledge (and that might be an overstatement) re: thoroughbred horseracing in India.

Could you please share an overview of the thoroughbred scene in India; and how the racing and the racetracks might compare to TB racing in other countries.

Racing in India is a legacy of the British Raj. When India was a British Colony wherever there were enough British people there was racing. Sadly after independence, India went through this Hypocritical Pseudo Socialist (Read Communist wannabe) phase. As such gambling though very popular, (its in our blood) was frowned upon, because of this we got whittled down from about 100+ to 9 proper racetracks today.
Most races in India is restricted to Indian breds. Presently we have a foal crop of about 1300 odd, racing here has been stuck in a time warp and after attending the Asian Racing Conference in Seoul last year its clear to me that we need a radical change. On course Bookmakers are the bane of our sport but recently the tracks at Bangalore and Hyderabad have promoted the tote actively and things are looking up. Sadly the racing facilities here are shabby and I'd never ask a layman to go racing at these two tracks. Bombay and Calcutta have two of the most beautiful racing facilities in the world, old british colonial architecture and huge lawns etc, looks good but the finances of these clubs are in a huge mess. All trainers have stalls on track like in USA. Many European riders ride in India in the winter, we have had Kinane, Fallon, Lemaire, Walter Swinburn, Piggot, Richard Hughes, etc. ride based out of here for the whole winter our own jocks are quite good too albeit only at the top level.

Every track has its own set of 5 traditional classics; Derby-2400 metres First Sunday in February (4 year olds), Oaks-2400 metres Middle of January, Leger-2800 mts End of March, 1000 Guineas -mile Late December (3 year olds) and 2000 Guineas-mile Late December (3 year olds). The ones run at Bombay carry the monicker Indian. The Bangalore summer Derby which is run on the 2nd Sunday in July for 3 year olds over a mile and a quarter is another huge event. We also have a rich Magic Millions sort of race that is run in Bombay in the middle of February. The first Weekend of March is when the Invitation Carnival takes place. the best 4 year olds are invited to run the Invitation Cup over a mile and a half, the best 4 horses from each center (Bombay, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta, Madras) run this race. the race is supported by a 1200 metre Sprinters Cup a 3000 metres Stayers Cup, and a Mile event, once again all these are invitation only races. All through the year there are a number of added money stakes and graded events just like in USA or Europe.

Our breeding industry is quite advanced and most Stud Farms stand their own stallions and have their own broodmare bands. Currently standing in India are horses who are well performed in Europe as well as USA, most of our pedigrees are Northern Hemisphere centric. We have been buying horses at Keeneland, Fasig Tipton, Goffs, Tattersalls etc. for almost 3 decades now. Recently our exports to Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Korea, though in limited numbers have done quite well, I think no more than 50 horses have been exported thus far. In USA Adler won a race at Ellis Park under Bill Mott's training, Running Flame ran a few of the west coast's top older grass distaff races but by the time she got here she was well past her prime. Saddle Up did very well in Singapore running 2nd in the Singapore International and ran a top race to run 6th in the Hong Kong Vase. India's best ever has got to be Elusive Pimpernel who won 22 of 23 starts in the mid nineties, he was atleast 15 to 20 KGs superior in Handicap compared with anything else.
All the top sire of sires have sons over here; Northern Dancer, Mr Prospector, Danzig, Storm Cat, Danehill, Valid Appeal, Sunday Silence, Miswaki, Kris S, Nureyev, Sadlers Wells are all represented here. For more info check out http://www.indiarace.com.
WHEW!!!!

[FOS]

hi bonzer

Thanks for the overview and historical perspective...fantastic.

Over what surfaces (turf, dirt, all weather) and in what direction do the horses race (clockwise or counter)? Are the tracks/courses oval or of various shapes? Are the tracks/courses undulating or level? Is racehorse ownership restricted to Indian owners?

Sounds like you have your hand on the pulse and your heart committed to the sport. I wish you the best in advancing thoroughbred racing in India.

Best to you.

Respectfully

[LSB]

bonzer, thanks so much for the highly informative post! I confess to not previously knowing much about racing in India, so it's great to get educated, lol.

[bonzer]

We race on turf, and our tracks are all clockwise. You have a bit of a slope at some tracks but they are pretty much flat sort of like the USA, with a gradual gradient. the tracks are oval and even foreign citizens can own horses. It costs about Rs. 10000 (US$ 220) per month to keep a horse in training.

[Sam]

Excellent post, Bonzer.

Who's the Kris S. son y'all have there?

[FOS]

hi bonzer

Thanks again...very interesting. You've piqued my interest, and you sound like the hands-on source...thanks.

I cannot imagine training a horse for the equivalent of approx $220 per month (grooms, feed, riders etc etc)...and what about veterinary services, is there easy access to quality care available?

Are urine tests (or whatever) taken pre and/or post-race to ensure integrity? Do official stewards oversee the racing process?

Since racing is on turf, are there numerous turf courses (at each track) to race over so that those that need it can rest and/or be groomed? Do the horses train on the same courses and/or surfaces that they race on?

Traditionally, what days of the week would racing take place at a particular track/course? What are the purses like...including stakes?

Thanks again, in advance. I appreciate your patience and willingness to take the time to offer an education of sorts re: thoroughbred horseracing in India.

Best to you.

Respectfully

[Thunder]

Quite interesting - very informative. Thanks, Bonzer

[bonzer]

While $220 might not sound like a lot, consider this our worst race nets about $800 to the winner, in the Highest handicap class it goes till about $4000. Our added money races are worth about $8000 to the winner and our top race nets about $100,000 to the winner

Just like in America where one has the East Coast, West Coast, midwest circuits, similarly we have a system by which horses are based at the following centres;
BANGALORE/MYSORE
BOMBAY/PUNE
HYDERABAD
CALCUTTA
DELHI(Really bad racing)
MADRAS/OOTY(Even worse racing, all fixed. One owner pretty much owns all the horses and we act like it doesnt even exist in India, anyway less said the better)

Our year starts in the second weekend of may with the Bangalore Summer Season; this is high quality racing over an action packed 2 months, the best horses from Bombay, Hyderabad, and Calcutta apart from the local horses descend on Bangalore,racing is on weekends.
This season ends in the first week of August.
THE MONSOON SEASONS:
HYDERABAD starts in the second week of July and they race on their Monsoon track which drains better with a river sand base and grass on top. Runs till the end of October
PUNE starts round about the same time and all the Bombay stock moves here lock stock and barrell, its a 3 hour drive from Bombay. They too have a special track on which they run when it rains, its Turf but its really firm without rain. Otherwise they have a regular track. Runs till the last week of October
MYSORE starts in the middle of August and the Bangalore horses race here even though most of them stay on in Bangalore and train there, its about 3 hours down the road from Bangalore
CALCUTTA has a monsoon season on a special Monsoon track. This is not very high quality racing and the lower horses race here as the weather is hot and humid.
THE WINTER SEASONS:
BOMBAY, this season is when all the Indian Classics are run, it starts Mid November and runs till the end of April. They race on Thursdays and Sundays
BANGALORE; This season starts at in early November and runs till the end of March. They race on Fridays and Saturdays
CALCUTTA; Here its a pretty seamless transition from the Monsoon season and racing moves on to the winter track, they race once a week.
HYDERABAD; This too is a seamless transition from the monsoon season they just change to the winter track which is a tan based turf surface.

MYSORE runs simultaneous summer and winter seasons with Bangalore but this caters to banged up horses at a very low level.

DELHI runs racing usually once a week from July end until Mid May every year, this is only half a track (Horseshoe) since they used the other half to make Air Force quarters during World War II thus the max distance in a mile!!

Every one of these centres run 5 regional classics except Delhi and Mysore (similar to the French, Irish, German, Italian Classics) but our 5 main Indian classics are run in Bombay, just like THE Derby is run in England.

All racing is on Turf and to make sure that the whole track is evenly used we have a system where there is a movable rail (False Rails) which is used to save the inside for the bigger race days. Majority of Training takes place on a sand track which is either inside or on the extreme outside of the main racetrack.

Good medical care is available and if needed we get top Vets from abroad visiting all the time. A very strict doping policy with stringent punishments is followed, no raceday medications. All samples are sent to the Hong Kong lab. We also have random sampling for horses that are not racing and this is done as a surprise to ensure that nobody is using any illegal medication, (Anabolic Steroids, etc.). We have proper Stewards and officials and everything is very Propah!!!

The son of Kris S at stud here is Epicentre. Other horses y'all might have heard of, who stand or have stood here include; Green Forest, Major Impact, Senure, Placerville, Dont Forget Me, Bolder Than Bold, Local Talent, Razeen, Hurricane State, Western Verse (Now in California), Alnasr Alwasheek, Diffident, Valid Concept, Storm Trooper, Greensmith, Sunday Doubt, Forest Gazelle, Tirol, Warshann, Ontario, Steinbeck, Meritocrat, Flitch, Twist And Turn, Private Man, China Visit, Portroe, Broto, Glory Of Dancer, Tiajuana (A 1/2 to Storm Cat), Tejano, Burden Of Proof, Brave Act, Bold Russian, Royal Kingdom, Mr Mellon, Fact Finder, Predappio, Always A Rainbow, Magistretti, Young Senor, Rebounding Thrill, Concordial, Hymn, Case Law, White Crown, Argyle Lake, Sir Bordeaux, No Louder, Foyer, Ajaad, Mudeer, A In Sociology, Scintillating Air, Emerald Cat, Juniper, Puerto Madero, Black Cash, Ikhtyar, Don Micheletto, Conquering Hero, Forest Fair, Oath (Epsom Derby winner) is due to land here for the 2007 season and many more whom I might have missed out.

We have many top mares which have been imported to India from all over the world; did you know that Derby Favourite VISINDAR's grandam LOOK a half sister to Swale was exported to India!?? She is just one of many top mares imported. Apart from this there are the established Indian lines which hold their own against all comers.

By the way guys maybe we need to change the name of The topic, its got very little to do with Stallions of 2007!!

Another interesting note on India: It is the famous English racing and breeding writer James Underwood's winter home.

[Sam]

The son of Kris S at stud here is Epicentre.

I was wondering where he went. Thanks!

Other horses y'all might have heard of, who stand or have stood here include; Green Forest, Major Impact, Placerville, Local Talent, Hurricane State, Forest Gazelle, Warshann, China Visit, Portroe, Tejano, Burden Of Proof, Brave Act, Mr Mellon, Magistretti, A In Sociology, Puerto Madero, Oath (Epsom Derby winner) is due to land here for the

hehe ... those are the only ones I know either because I remember them racing or because I've stallion ads from when they were here.

[Heidilady]

Wow bonzer thanks for all the information. It's great to have a chance to learn about racing in India. I was wondering what races are open to American-breds since you said, like Japan, many races are restricted even if foreign owners can own them.