|
Born on 8th February 1975, Royal Tern was a large muscular bay sired by Royal Gleam out of the imported mare Sea Song. A non-winner in England, she won three races in this country before being retired to stud. She produced several winners but none quite in the mould of Royal Tern. Sea Song’s dam was sired by the illustrious Tudor Minstrel while Royal Gleam was descendant of the Nasrullah and Hyperion lines. Nevertheless, Royal Tern’s full sister Royal Song was a relative flop with only four wins to her credit.
Around the same time that Royal Tern made his debut on 11th December 1977, a young lad named Karl Umrigar was taking Mahalaxmi by storm and being dubbed as the ‘gentleman rider’ who would undoubtedly be king one day. Vasant Shinde’s monopoly was under serious threat from a lad who was more comfortable in a saddle rather than in an easy chair. Promptly recruited by the Goculdas stable, Umrigar formed a formidable partnership with Royal Tern and the duo soon built up an invincible aura about them.
Like so many top performers, Royal Tern went down in his maiden start over 1,000 metres to a crack sprinter named Every Time. He, in fact, drifted to the outer rails and ran green. Once that was rectified, there was no looking back. As a three year-old, he won his next five races with ridiculous ease in Karl Umrigar’s hands. The mauling he dished out to MAM stars Own Opinion (the favourite for the race) and Red Chieftan in the Bangalore Summer Colts Trial Stakes made bookmakers and punters realise that he was indeed something special. In the Bangalore Derby run over a mile and quarter, Red Chieftan was considered to be the threat to him but it was in fact Own Opinion who finished in the runner-up berth, two lengths behind.
Back in his hometown of Bombay, bookmakers refused to offer odds on him for the 2000 Guineas where his presence shooed away all except Ajaya. However, when bookmakers refused to offer odds on him in the three-horse race for the Ramniwas Ruia Cup and the Indian Derby (where five faced the starter), punters were left utterly stranded. Here was a giant of a horse in every sense of the word but they could not touch the gold mine. What a predicament!
It needed a mastermind like that of south Indian racing baron Dr MAM Ramaswamy to hatch a plot that would eventually script the downfall of the game galloper known as Royal Tern. Together with two more experienced minds in the form of Aris David and saddle king Jagdish, the trap was laid on 4th March 1979 in the race for the Indian Turf Invitation Cup where the MAM yard owned three of the five runners. The fifth horse was the 1000 Guineas winner Vox Populi. Royal Tern was a 5-to-1-on public choice while Own Opinion was quoted at 6/1.
In retrospect, it would seem that the MAM team were gambling on the fact that Royal Tern had won the Indian Derby start-to-finish in a canter and young Karl would employ similar tactics in the Invitation Cup. Their foresight proved right as at first Philanderer and then Red Chieftan threw an off-guard Royal Tern and Karl Umrigar off their regular routine.
From the mile marker till the top of the long Bombay straight, Red Chieftan and Mckeown were going hell for leather. Umrigar didn’t want to give him too much of a break and stayed as close as possible while the wily Jagdish had Own Opinion racing several lengths behind, fighting for his bit. Into the straight, it was Royal Tern first with Own Opinion left with a lot of running to do. But under Jagdish’s smooth handling, he covered the leeway and did a little more to get the better of the Goculdas giant by half a length at the wire. It was one of the finest pieces of ‘setplay’ witnessed at Mahalaxmi.
The tragic hand of fate snatched Karl Umrigar away when he fell from Vasudha that season at Bombay. Royal Tern was subsequently ridden by Calcutta ace Nelson Reuben.
At Bangalore, he restored a part of his earlier reputation when he gave Indian Oaks winner Tulipa 18 kg and a beating in the Governor’s Cup. But Own Opinion got the better of him again in the St Leger at Pune making their head-to-head score 2-2. Royal Tern, however, displayed that up to a mile-and-half, he was still a little superior to his nemesis when he beat him in the President of India Gold Cup at Hyderabad.
As a five-year-old, he won the Invitational Cup (not to be confused with Invitation Cup) at Mumbai. He thrashed Everynsky but succumbed to the latter in the Nizam’s Gold Cup and President Of India Gold Cup at Hyderabad. In both these races, he was piloted by Karan Singh and finished ahead of Own Opinion to end a glittering career while on the wane.
As a sire at Sewania Stud, his best progeny was Thurendot. Royal Tern passed away in 1996 after leaving an indelible mark on Indian racing.
