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.