That was the only defeat that Mystical suffered in his career in India
after he came out of the maiden ranks. That he took three runs to record
his maiden win is the biggest puzzle of Indian racing! Mystical has
since left for Dubai on Sunday and considering the fact that he towered
over his contemporaries in India and is the best Indian representative
to race in Dubai, one can expect a change of fortunes for Indian horses
during the Dubai racing carnival next year.
Be that as it may, Southern Empire has emerged as the best horse of his
age in the country by a mile. The story is the same whenever Southern
Empire runs; the opponents are beaten pointless. There is so much
difference between the champion and the rest that Southern Empire has
toyed with his contemporaries the way one has not seen in recent times.
He hammered the opposition in the Gr 1 Kingfisher Bangalore Derby and
the manner in which he won the Gr 1 Indian 2000 Guineas was suggestive
of the fact that the class difference between him and the rest is too
huge to bridge. Southern Empire will brook no opposition and wherever he
runs, the result is a foregone conclusion.
That is so because, even the second or third strings with trainer
Ganapathy are good enough to beat the best that the opposition can come
up with. Secret Memory who won the Gr 1 Nanoli Pune Derby himself is an
outstanding horse, unlucky to have been born in the same year as
Southern Empire. Secret Memory is good enough to beat the best in the
country and as such, Southern Empire who is miles ahead of the Pune
Derby winner, will face no challenge from any of his adversaries.
Barring the unforeseen, Southern Empire will stamp his authority all
over the country.
Interestingly, Southern Empire’s full brothers Smart Chieftan and
Classical Act were also Derby winners. While Smart Chieftan won the Gr 1
Kingfisher Derby and went on to claim the Indian Triple Crown and the Gr
1 Indian Turf Invitation Cup before breaking down when sent to race at
Singapore, Classical Act, after winning the Gr 1 Kingfisher Bangalore
Derby, had one problem or the other that prevented him from running to
potential. However, he redeemed his reputation somewhat when he won the
Gr 2 Maharaja’s Cup, beating the likes of Zurbaran with consummate ease
to suggest what he missed out had it not been for his problems other
than talent. Classical Act also ran a close third in one of his outings
at Dubai but unfortunately, his stay at Singapore has been without any
achievement.
By the look of things, Southern Empire appears to be better than his
predecessors. He is immensely more talented and has made the opposition
look too meek for comfort. He has remained unbeaten in all his nine
outings and barring the odd occasion when Running Bull ran him close,
all other wins have seen the opposition beaten to submission in
spectacular fashion. While the full brothers of Southern Empire have all
excelled, his full sisters had not shown the same fire. Of the full
sisters of Southern Empire who have graced the turf, only Exuberant won
a few races.
Until the arrival of Mystical and Southern Empire and the exit of
Elusive Pimpernel, Indian breeding seemed to have bridged the difference
between the best and the second best but history is repeating itself too
consistently for the comfort of other breeding establishments. The
Poonawalla Stud Farm’s domination has been simply spectacular in the
last two years.
