Capt. Appoo snaps ties with Cooji Katrak 

By Usman Rangila
Dec 22, 2004

Seemingly frustrated after the below par performance of the three-year-old chestnut filly Radiate in the Shantidas Askuran Trophy on Sunday, Capt. Jamshed Appoo has decided to remove all his horses from trainer Cooji Katrak’s care. Capt. Appoo, whose name figures in the big league of racehorse owners at Western India, has decided to shift base to Bangalore. Trainer S. Padmanabhan has been entrusted with eight horses while Pesi Shroff has been given three.  Capt. Appoo had earlier given seven of his horses to Bangalore based Michael Eshwer and added another four to this number on Sunday. 

It may be recalled that Radiate, who was quoted at a measly 10 to 4 on by the bookies in the field of four, was humiliated at the hands of Ballynahinch. During their last meeting at Pune, Radiate had vanquished Ballynahinch, who had finished fifth then, by over eleven lengths and had just a 2.5kg advantage over the mare on this occasion. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Capt. Appoo was in deep distress after the dismal run of his classic hopeful Soul Mountain, who ran a listless race in what was to be his prep-race for the 2000 Guineas when he ended fifth to Fantastic Knight on the second day of the current season. Later Soul Mountain suffered a serious tendon problem after a hard gallop at morning track work which dealt a fatal blow to his chances in the Indian classics. 

In happier times;
Radiate (P Kamlesh up) with Cooji Katrak (extreme left) and Capt. Appoo (extreme right)

The recent defeat of Radiate is thought to have come as a last straw for Capt. Appoo who then decided to part ways with his long time trainer with whom he had a successful association in the last couple of years.

Capt. Appoo confirmed the recent development to this correspondent and when asked the reasons behind this abrupt decision he explained, "Without casting any aspersions on anybody, looking at the loss of my horses who were overwhelming favourites to win in their respective races and keeping in mind that I have to protect my image as an owner in the eyes of the racing public, I gave a careful thought before deciding to part ways with my trainer."