Madhav
Mangalorkar is perhaps the most enduring trainer in the history of Indian
racing. The man with the inscrutable face, Mangalorkar’s success story
began way back in 1956 and even now, the veteran is envied for his ability
to place his horses shrewdly to remarkable effect.
Training for owners who
would love to put their money on their horses, Mangalorkar has been able
to achieve a high degree of success by his quiet and systematic approach,
coupled with total loyalty to his owners. This has ensured unstinted
loyalty from his owners as well. ``The reason why my horses generally run
at good odds is because I keep my mouth shut, so that the owners always
get their due. The owners have total confidence in me because I don’t
hide anything from them. If a horse is down with a problem, I will
immediately bring it to their notice instead of giving one excuse or the
other for not running that particular horse. Being straightforward always
helps,’’ says Mangalorkar.
Mangalorkar does concede
that racing has indeed become more ``stressful’’ than when he began
his career. He is also upset at the way the sport has been slipping over
the years, with the gaming element overriding the sporting. ``It is not
that horses were not given runs earlier but not the way it is being done
now is quite bad,’’ says the veteran. ``The labour too has
become problematic and it is difficult to satisfy them no matter what you
give them and this has also contributed to making the life of a trainer
more difficult,’’ adds the veteran.
What has greatly
contributed to the success of Mangalorkar who has over 40 classics under
his belt is his ability to adapt himself to the changing environment. But
with these days the accent being more on nominated winners for owners who put money
on horses, he hasn’t been able to chase success in classics. ``Whenever
I have had a good horse, I have exploited it to the fullest extent in big
races,’’ clarifies Mangalorkar.
The most fruitful year
that Mangalorkar enjoyed was when he trained Kitty Bank to win three
Derbys in a row. Starting from Deccan Derby in Hyderabad in October, Kitty
Bank followed it by twin successes in the South India Derby and the Arc de
Triomphe (the winter Derby in Bangalore was called so at that time).
Mangalorkar trained for
some of the biggest owners of earlier times, the Maharajaras and Maharanis
as well as for industrial tycoons like M A Chidambaram and Dr M A M
Ramaswamy for whom he trained a Derby winner Half A Crown. After shifting
his base from Madras to Hyderabad in the late 70’s, Mangalorkar ruled
the roost in Hyderabad before he shifted to Bangalore. He was the champion
trainer for as many as 15 times. Sweeping the cards had become a habit
with him, winning five races in a row on more than one occasion. Top
jockeys like P Shankar, the first Indian to record 1000 winners and known
for his aggressive finish, Karan Singh and Jagdish rode for him. He rates
the Australian jockey Osborne who rode for him with remarkable success as
the best he has had.
Mangalorkar graduated
under B P Shivan, known as a trainer of trainers. Incidentally,
Mangalorkar did not come from a family, which had any interest in racing,
and as such, he had to face stiff opposition when he set out to become a
trainer. However, his son Arjun Manglorkar’s initiation has been smooth
though the veteran put him under Rashid Byramji so that the youngster would not take
things for granted and that his initiation would be tough.
Forty-five years of hard
grind in the exacting sport has not softened him. Mangalorkar’s career
has been free from any brush with the authorities and he hasn’t had any
problem for breach of medication rules either. The conservative veteran
has reaped rich rewards for his ``steady’’ and ``pragmatic’’
approach. Though he is pushing 70, he has the fitness to be in the sport
for many more years.
