|
The five winners in chronological order were Cordon Bleu (Riyahi-Deep Water Blues), Exhilaration (Malvado-Preparation), Desert Warrior (Malvado-Maandavi), Starfire Girl (Riyahi-Marchetta) and Astonish (Malvado-Avola).
Imtiaz Sait is a very patient trainer. His colt Exhilaration made his debut pretty late – the day Cordon Bleu won the Derby. He won a six-furlong sprint quite easily, collaring the speedy Running Bangle near the distance post and stopping the clock at 1min 12.7sec. At that point of time, the colt was owned by JP Goenka and Cyrus Poonawalla. It was a time when the Goenka stable were diluting their strength after their immense success with horses like Mossy Banks, Almanac and Aztec. Exhilaration won two more races at Bombay and Pune before the Goenka yard sold off their share. Always a man with an eye for a good horse, Dr MAM Ramaswamy grabbed the opportunity with the intention of increasing his classic tally.
When Exhilaration won the 2000 Guineas in 1988 and the Indian Derby and Invitation Cup (in Bombay) in 1989, the colt was owned jointly by Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, Dr MAM Ramaswamy, ZS Poonawalla and Solomon F Sopher.
1989 was a landmark year in Imtiaz Sait’s career. He trained the wonder horse in exemplary manner, getting the colt to perform at his best when it mattered the most.
After winning the Indian 2000 Guineas in a canter, under Pesi Shroff’s strong handling, the colt won the Indian Derby from Northern Star (Mick Kinane up) by a length. He was in mid-division of the 15-horse field for a major part of the way before pegging back the Chenoy ward in the final furlong. Knight Earnest was a faraway third.
Shroff had to work a little harder to get the better of Northern Star in the Invitation Cup to win by half-a-length but the latter was subsequently disqualified for testing positive to caffeine. Parfait Amour, who was a faraway third, was promoted to the runner-up berth. Shroff completed the Indian Derby – Invitation Cup double with three runners in the form of Revelation, Exhilaration and Storm Again. The ace rider still rates Exhilaration right at the top.
Preparation, the dam of Exhilaration, is a product of the famous Nasrullah line. She won four races in England and produced classy winners like Starfire Boy and Stellar Role but none quite in the mould of the brilliant Exhilaration who maintained a 100 percent record of nine wins from nine starts.
