The famed Twin Spires

The World Thoroughbred Championships 2006
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - By Anil Mukhi

Nov  02, 2006

There is serious economic gain possible for breeders of Thoroughbred racehorses in India if they are able to market their wares in North America. About 100,000 horses are in training between the U.S.A. and Canada at any given time - each with an owner or owners who pay the bills - totalling upwards of $ 5,000,000 a day! The largest yearling sale - the Keeneland September Sale - set a new record this year with the astounding sum of $399,791,800 (about Rs.1,800 crores) changing hands for purchase of 3,556 individual horses.

Some of these yearlings will ultimately emerge as top-class performers and breed-shapers, while others will turn out hopeless - therein lies the charm of horse racing and breeding. The top-class performers will run in races like the Breeders' Cup events, where their talent will be displayed before a world audience, and their earnings will amount to millions of dollars. 

Churchill is all spruced up for the occasion

Scenes of wild jubilation greeted onlookers last Saturday night in the unlikely setting of Montevideo, Uruguay, after the winner of their Triple Crown, Invasor, scythed through his rivals to annex the Breeders' Cup Classic (10 fur.) in Louisville, Kentucky. Admittedly Invasor is Argentine-bred, and is now owned by Sheikh Hamdan's Shadwell Farm and trained in the U.S.A. by Kiaran McLaughlin, but the fact that he raced at the Maronas Racetrack, and was at the time owned, trained and ridden by Uruguayans, was enough to foster a sense of "belonging" with a racehorse, in an otherwise football-crazy country. 

Paddock at Churchill Downs

When will an Indian horse run at the Breeders' Cup? Hopefully in the not too distant future if only breeders shed their inferiority complex and make showcasing their products on the world stage their priority. Examples of world-class entrepreneurship on the part of Indians abound - whether it be the extraordinary Lakshmi Mittal, the multi-billion dollar Information Technology industry, the almost equally large Biotechnology industry and other new "sunrise" business activities - many of which were unknown a couple of decades ago.

Almost winning a maiden at Turfway Park is a far cry from annexing a Breeders' Cup race - yet the first Indian-bred to start its racing career in the U.S.A., Micheletto Prince (by Don Micheletto) practically scored on his debut in March this year. From the video replay, it's clear he would have won handsomely but for shying away from the rail while running green. Without wishing to belittle anyone, it must be pointed out that there are several far better-bred youngsters in India - why could they not hypothetically win maidens at Hollywood Park or Belmont?

And winning a maiden at a major track is the first step in progressing further up the equine chain…..something worth ruminating about.

Start of the Juvenile Fillies