While Poonawalla Stud Farm has to its credit the first winner in Singapore in the form of Bountiful Treasure, the Kunigal Stud Farm’s Saddle Up truly put Indian racing on the world map by his splendid exploits there against some highly rated horses in the World. If
Zavaray did everything at his command to ensure that Indian breeding got its due recognition, Saddle Up did his bit on the racetrack. The collective effort has seen Indian racing get recognition which was hitherto denied for want of adequate data. Recently, Simply Noble,
bred at the Poonawalla Stud Farm, was in contention for the title of horse of the year in Malaysia.
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Now the biggest triumph has come in the form of the decision of the Dubai racing authorities to allow, in principle, Indian horses
to fly there directly. Only formalities remain to be completed. While trainer Padmanabhan did his bit by taking Classical Act and Zurbaran to race them during the Dubai racing festival and ensuring that Indian racing got its due recognition by his interaction with the officials concerned,
Zavaray worked full steam in ensuring that the authorities were kept informed of the progress made by Indian racing in all aspects. Fin Powrie, Chief Steward of Dubai Racing, visited India during the month of July to familiarize himself with racing here,
Zavaray made every effort to make his visit a meaningful one by accompanying the visiting dignitary to leading Indian stud establishments like the Kunigal Stud Farm as well as the Nanoli Stud Farm besides his own Poonawalla Stud Farm.
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Mr. Zavaray Poonawalla &
Mr. Fin Powrie
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The facility to reach Dubai directly without having to go through the cumbersome route of going to USA,
spending the mandatory quarantine period there and then reaching Dubai which can otherwise be reached in three hours has immense benefits to Indian racing industry. The whole process when Zurbaran and Classical Act went there early this year, took about 40 days besides long and arduous travel and
an enormous amount of money. The Dubai racing officials are due to visit Mumbai later in the month to inspect the isolation facilities.
A word of caution from Zavaray: ``The task is not over as yet. A lot of hard work, toil and money
has been spent to get Indian racing its due. The members of National Horse Breeding Society and the professionals have been of great help. However, we need to be on our toes till such time the team from Dubai inspects the isolation facilities, visits the stud farms and are convinced of the hygiene and the scientific level of management. Then, we have to get the Minister of Agriculture and the Joint Secretary of Agriculture Ministry to establish a government level protocol.’’
The recent development has exciting possibilities for Indian racing. Apart from the prospects of racing at Dubai, the transfer of horses to Singapore becomes easier. There is also a possibility of sending Indian mares for covering to Dubai where fashionable stallions are available. The Dubai rulers have been considerate to Indian requirements.
Indian gene pool will surely be richer for the same. For this, apart from others, the contribution of
Zavaray Poonawalla has been significant
``In order to make a big impact, we need to send only the best horses to race abroad. The opening up of Dubai is only the first step to getting through to the European Union. All this will take a lot of time but I will spend all the resources at my command to bring about this eventuality. Money is not a constraint. I am prepared to bear the expenses like I have done over the years. If we can open up one country each year, a new milestone in the annals of Indian thoroughbred would have been reached,’’ said
Zavaray who has been chasing a dream for the last two decades to put India racing on the World map.
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