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Chaitanya Chakram, the colt, eclipsed the exploits of his full sister by winning 15 races, including the two plums of ’87 – The Indian Derby and The Invitation Cup. He was a front-runner by nature and winning two races of mile-and-half within a space of four weeks of each other was no mean feat, as any experienced trainer will tell you. Furthermore, the man who sat in the saddle in the two big races and indeed during a major part of the colt’s career, was not considered to be among the country’s elite list of riders – Llyod Marshall. However, he proved that he was good enough to time his breathers right and that was sufficient to send this big-hearted colt to the pinnacle of glory.
After winning the Bangalore Summer Derby as a three-year-old, Chaitanya Chakram was being acclaimed by a section of knowledgeable oldtimers as the greatest front-running machine that this country has witnessed after the stupendous Prince Pradeep more than two decades earlier.
Of all his triumphs, the one in the Indian Derby featuring a do-or-die duel with Capricorn (Grey Gaston-Calypso Star) was possibly the most memorable. Chaitanya Chakram, a product of Dashmesh Stud Farm, was considered to be the outsider of two. He was available at 7/2, while the grey was the 10-to-9-on public choice. A horse from Hyderabad beating a Bombay champion was considered unthinkable to the local fraternity. Front-running a mile-and-half at Mahalaxmi was thought to be too much of a challenge for an outstation horse by the partisan crowd rooting for Bezan Chenoy’s ward.
Capricorn was to be ridden by local champion Vasant Shinde. Usha Stud, where the phenomenal Grey Gaston stood, enjoyed an enviable record in the classics. As such, the scales seemed to be tilted in favour of Capricorn in so far as the local punters and bookies were concerned. As per the script, Lloyd Marshall took Chaitanya Chakram to the front as the gates opened. He set a scorching pace before a breather at the 800 marker. Capricorn was content to lie in mid-division. Marshall appeared to be giving Chakram too much to do too early. As the field swung into the straight, Marshall and Chakram had shaken off the rest but Shinde and Capricorn were travelling well. Though the Chenoy colt drew alongside the Hyderabad challenger, he could not pass him. By then, both riders had pulled out all stops.
As if by magic, the joint property of Narasimha Reddy, Vasanth Kumar Reddy, J. Dhariwal and Sukhbir S Bedi found that little extra and held on by a neck. It was an amazing victory in a then record time of 2 min 31.3 sec. The wonder colt had clipped 0.5sec off Manitou’s record nine years earlier.
Despite the close call, after his Indian Derby victory, Chaitanya Chakram was installed as the even-money favourite in the Invitation Cup at Bangalore. This time, he beat Capricorn hollow to leave no doubts in the minds of skeptics about his superiority.
The ‘unthinkable’ finally happened in the summer of ’87 at Bangalore when Chaitanya Chakram buckled to Calcutta Derby winner Azhar in the Maharaja’s Cup. However, he was conceding 16 kg to the winner and the verdict was less than a length. The defeat resulted in L. Marshall being replaced by Leo D’Silva in Hyderabad where he picked up the Nizam’s Gold Cup, The President of India Gold Cup and the Golconda St Leger.
Even the greats have to take a bow some time or other. The next season at Hyderabad, Chakram lost both his races without a fight as a five-year-old. That’s when he called it a day. But by then he had already done enough to emboss his name in the “gallery of greats”.
