Stunning upsets in Indian Derby

In the last 45plus years of racing that I have witnessed there were four instances of the Indian Derby when despite losing money I just couldnt stop laughing hysterically after the raceAll these four Derbys were won by rank outsidersthe winners not only shocked their more fancied rivals and floored the racing pundits but also stunned the mammoth Derby crowds into pindropsilence for a few moments after the initial furore died down and they realized a wrong horse had wonThen as the clapping started from the stands reminding the stunned souls they were there to applaud the new superstar they would like true sportsmen stop mourning their financial loss and rise to the occasion cheering loudly and lustily for the newly crowned championIn a very strange coincidence three of these four winners won the Indian Derby not in their true masters name but in the name of another trainer who had very little to do with the grooming of the these Derby winnersNelston 1983Legendary trainer the late Rashid Byramji after winning his sixth Indian Derby with Mohawk in 1980 was exiled from Mahalaxmi and had shifted base to Bangalore But he mocked the RWITC bosses by saddling two more Derby winners in 1981 Track Lightning and 1982 Almanac Byramji saddled them through proxies like Tassi and Nosher CamaAlso Read Its not about money honeyBefore the 1983 Indian Derby most of the Derby talk was centered around the local 4y olds like Bizzie Lizzie Camino and Columbia with a few wondering if Dr Ramaswamys raidersBirthday Girl and Almagestwould be able to hurt the local pride No one noticed the arrival of a horse named Nelston owned by the late Major P K Mehra amp his family who was going to be ridden by Vasant Shinde one of the great saddle artists this country has seenNelston ran friendless at 401 demolishing his more famous rivals Thanks to this shocking victory Neslton became the only horse to feature on the cover of India Today magazinethe title of the cover story was The Wrong Horse WinsVasant Shinde speaking to midday from Bangalore earlier this week threw light on why no one took Nelston seriously before the race Everyone knew Nelston had an issue with one of his front hooves Shinde said so he wore a specially designed shoe to address that problem but unfortunately the shoe would come off during the race especially when negotiating the turnFinally I was somehow able control him well around the turn and won some races without the shoe coming off the ace jockey continued but nothing could be guaranteed at Mahalaxmi as he was running there for the first timeMaybe this was the reason why Nelston was summarily ignored by allNoble Eagle 2003Veteran trainer M K Jadhav who has been in the horse training business for over 50 years but has yet to win the Derby has actually trained a Derby winner that did not take his name into the record books The story is ironic tragicand perhaps comic tooKhushroo Dhunjibhoy was expecting to win the 2003 Indian Derby as two of the main contenders were to sport his silks They were Zurbaran trainer S Padmanabhan and Aldeburgh the late trainer Vinayak Malesh Narredu who was Vinayaks friend opted to ride Aldeburgh and ace jockey Aslam Kader was asked to ride Zurbaran However Zurbaran would get very keen so it was decided to have a pacemaker in the raceIn laymans language you can think of pacemaker as a horse which is sacrificed by asking him to run like a scalded cat and cut very fast fractions in the hope that such tactic would enable the main hope in this case Zurbaran to deliver his best The pacemaker generally pays for his suicidal effort folds up and drops back to the rear of the field as the race takes a serious turnDhunjibhoy zeroed in on Noble Eagle owned by his partner Vijay Shirke and trained by MK Jadhav as a good candidate for the pacemakers role But there was a problem Dhunjibhoy did not own a share in Noble Eagle so technically he could not give instructions about the strategy to MK Jadhav in the paddock So Vijay Shirke requested MK Jadhav to transfer the horse to the stables of Vinayak who as explained earlier was already training Aldeburgh for DhunjibhoyA young inexperienced jockey named Pramod Belose who was riding his first Derby mount in Noble Eagle received instructions from Dhunjibhoy The instructions were simple go to the front set a solid pace and fully ride out the horse The idea was Zurbaran and Aslam Kader would easily pass the tiring Noble Eagle in the homestretchBut Pramod Belose was perhaps destined for a sensational Derby victory on debut In the actual running of the race Noble Eagle and Pramod Belose just did not tire despite setting a solid paceAslam Kader astride Zurbaran who stalked Noble Eagle all the way of the mileandahalf Derby trip used every trick in the book to go closer to the pacemaker who was clearly defying the instructions by overstaying his role as a pacemaker But Noble Eagle just kept going and in fact skipped away in the last furlong to post a decisive victory Trainer Vinayak who had earlier won the Derby with IndictmentIndictment in 1997 thus won his second Indian DerbyNoble Eagle still holds the record as the highest priced Derby winner on the tote paying over Rs 900 for Rs 10Velvet Rope 2006For Vinayak it was a case of Deja Vu when three years after leading in Noble Eagle he also led in another Derby winner Velvet Rope which was actually trained by Cooji Katrak Vinayak saddled Velvet Rope in the 2006 Derby as Katrak was under suspension during that periodMystical the horse who later won twice at Dubai in the Poonawalla colours to make India proud was all the rage in the 2006 Indian Derby betting Nine out of ten people did not believe Mystical would get beat though there was murmur and gossip in hushed tones that Holding Court trained by Padmanabhan for owner Haresh Mehta could be a serious threat No one paid any attention to Velvet Rope and his jockey P Kamlesh in the paddockall eyes were on Mystical B Prakash up owned by Dr Ramaswamy at that point in time and Holding Court for whom Padmanabhan had imported jockey Martin Dwyer from EnglandAfter staying near the pace all through Holding Court assumed command in the straight but in the hands of B Prakash the incredible turn of foot displayed by Mystical in the 2000 Guineas less than two months ago on the same track was sorely missing this time And just when it looked like Holding Court would go on to win P Kamlesh brought Velvet Rope with an electrifying run and nailed Holding Court on the wire Velvet Ropes owner Shiven Surendranath experienced the most ecstatic moments of his life when leading in Velvet Rope to a standing ovation but Cooji Katrak the original trainer could not be there Instead Vinayak led in his third Derby winnerAntonios 2009Let me share a story which is as unbelievable as it is true In 1993 I was working as associate editor for The Indian Thoroughbred now defunct The owner of the magazine was Farouq K Rattonsey FKR a diamond merchant for whom horse racing was a passion My cabin was next to the owners cabinOne day I had something to discuss with FKR and when I was about to knock on his cabin door it swung open and a man dressed like a Hindu priest came out and left I was surprised and more intrigued when I saw FKR laughing uncontrollablyThis man who just left is telling me I am going to win the Indian Derby multiple times he said I also joined in the laugh FKR had only a handful of horses in training and none of them by any stretch of imagination were showing great promise If India were England the bookmakers there who offer odds on any fancy proposition would certainly have offered 10000to1 for FKRs multiple Derby victoriesHowever 15 years passed by and the unthinkable happened In 2008 FKR led in his first Derby winner named Hotstepper trained by SS Shah The then septuagenarian trainer had tasted his last Derby success 35 years ago Mansoor 1973 andhold your breathhe followed it up immediately next year when Brazilian rider SA DeSousa stunned the piping hot favourite Set Alight to bag the 2009 Indian Derby in record time at the huge odds of 60to1