Kehelan Stud Farm to wind up operations

By Sharan Kumar

February 15, 2005

Kehelan Stud Farm in Karnataka is due to close its operations shortly. The farm which was established in 1980 has produced its fair share of winners which include the Grade 1 winners, Supreme Choice (Indian Turf Invitation Cup, 1996), Albertini (Sprinters Cup, 1996) and Blurr (Poonawalla Breeders' Multimillion, 2004). 

Glory of Dancer (Shareef Dancer-Glory of Hera) is the resident stallion at present the fortunes of the stud farm appeared to have taken an upward swing with his importation in 1999. Glory of Dancer was an immediate success and was India's Leading Freshman Sire in 2002-03. His graded race performers include Blurr (Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million Gr.1, Dashmesh and Hargobind Stud Juvenile Million Gr.3), Adrian (Maharaja's Cup Gr.2) and Kaiser (Golconda Juvenile Million Gr.3). 

The decision to close operations at Kehelan has come as a shock to the racing fraternity because there had been an upward swing in the demand for juveniles, the supply not matching the demand. "We have had a significant number of abortions over the years and have not been able to put a finger on the problem. We thought the location was not ideal for a stud farm and as such we decided to wind up operations there", said one of the partners. Glory of Dancer, along with 25 mares, will be re-located to Nanoli Stud Farm near Pune where the Rattonseys, who own the sire, will continue their operations in a small way. Nanoli Stud Farm, owned by RWITC Chairman Khushroo Dhunjibhoy, has been enjoying unprecedented success in the last few years. Greensmith, Black Cash, Indictment and Storm Trooper are the resident stallions at the stud farm which is located about 50 kms from Pune in idyllic surroundings. The infrastructure at the stud farm and the scientific manner in which it is being run has come for all-round praise and the stud farm has made big inroads within a decade of its existence.