CHAMPION STUD FARM

What seemed impossible at the half-way stage and unlikely with the three-quarters of the year gone, came to pass as the Poonawalla Group of Farms thundered home with an electrifying finish to win the Champion Stud Farm award -- its 11th and the sixth in-a-row since the award was instituted 16 years ago -- from its perennial rival, the Usha Stud. The final winning margin was a mere 14 points and if Southern Bay loses her Mysore 1000 Guineas victory for coming positive, it will come down 10 points. This is the closest finish ever for the Championship. The lead of 165 points that Usha enjoyed when the winter seasons ended seemed unassailable and certain to give the farm its first title since 2004-05. Three months later, the lead had been reduced to 114 points which still seemed handy. Though the Poonawalla Group steadily bridged the gap in the last quarter, the outcome was still in doubt when the last graded race of the year -- the Mysore Derby, Gr.1, appropriately sponsored by the Poonawallas -- was run. Both -- Poonawalla Group as well as Usha -- had two runners in the race. The Poonawallas needed maximum points to edge ahead and as Field Marshal and Southern Bay fought out the finish while At The Helm and Lad Lady failed to hit the board, the Championship was decided. Literally, on the post.

It was on the eve of Ministerial's Invitation Cup at Bangalore in 1997 that the Turf Authorities of India made the first Champion Stud Award and it went to Usha Stud. The award was based on a point system and it continues to be so based though the formula has been revised a couple of times, the last revision being effective from the 2007-08 year. Indian breeding has always been bi-polar, more so in the last 25 years, and the award has been won by the Poonawalla Group 11 times and Usha Stud on five occasions.

The Stud Book Authority of India maintains the statistics and publishes them every quarter. (Incidentally, they are available to anyone on payment of an annual subscription of Rs. 1,000). The details of this year's award, extracted from different tables to provide a complete picture, are:-
 

Points

(a) Gr.1 -- Win 30, Second 15, Third 9

(b) Gr.2 -- Win 20, Second 8, Third 4

(c) Gr.3 -- Win 10, Second 4, Third 2

(d) Ordinary races with stakes Rs. 5, 00,000 - 2 points each

(e) Other ordinary races -- 1 point each

(f) There are bonus for prestigious races like the Indian Derby, Indian Turf Invitation Cup, etc.

Like any purely statistical calculation, the present formula has its drawbacks. Generally, though, the formula has been vindicated for this year is the first in last eight when the award has gone to a stud farm not having the highest tally of black-type points. In all other seven years, the establishment winning the award had the highest number of black-type points, overall points and stakes won.

Usha Stud would be disappointed at the result. The two outstanding fillies, Moonlight Romance and Xisca, which had contributed so much in the earlier part of the year, were absent in the crucial last quarter. On the other hand, had that nursery won either the Golconda St. Leger or the R.W.I.T.C. Gold Cup -- two Gr.2 races just preceding the Mysore Derby -- for which Camacho and Macchupicchu started favourites, the title would have changed hands. With those two horses running only third, an opportunity was presented to Poonawalla Group and it deserves all accolades for grabbing it readily. Usha Stud was also fortunate to be credited with a sizeable chunk of points won by Arabian Prince. The Stayers' Cup winner was born at the Usha Stud when his dam Arabian Rose went up north to the court of Steinbeck. However, Arabian Prince spent a greater portion of his younger days at the Kunigal Stud.

For Kunigal Stud, it was a double whammy. Not only did it have to lose the points to Usha Stud, Arabian Rose returned empty to her covering by Steinbeck. Kunigal also lost points for Allez Vite's Golconda St. Leger victory to Nanoli Stud and to rub the salt into the wound, it was Nanoli Stud which relegated Kunigal to the fifth place. Chettinad Stud's third place is based almost entirely on stakes and points won in the state of Tamil Nadu and is only of academic interest. For the record, the next five finishers are -- Equus Stud and Manjri Stud (joint sixth; an all-time high rating for Equus), Pratap Stud, Sohna Stud and Chanhill/Capricorn.

CHAMPION SIRE

If the Poonawalla Group ambushed Usha Stud, it would be true to say that Placerville mugged China Visit. This was Placerville's seventh Championship and it takes him one ahead of Razeen. Both these outstandings passed away earlier this year. The top five stallions of the year were:-

China Visit, on the verge of being banished from Usha Stud, had a purple year and has probably earned himself a reprieve. Without a Gr.1 winner in his first three crops, the son of Red Ransom had three -- Moonlight Romance, Xisca and Attila -- from his fourth and that enabled him to attain his best ranking. These three horses contributed to almost 60 % of the stakes won by his progeny and thus mask the average performance of his remaining 104 runners. Significantly, he does not have a star -- unless it is Romantique -- in his fifth crop and if he achieves a top five finish next year, he will have done well. The other four are known well enough and require no further gilding.

There are other categories and it would suffice to mention only the top stallion in two of them. Always A Rainbow had the most wins -- 177 -- during the year and Placervile sired the most -- 84 -- number of winners. Always A Rainbow was also the Champion Juvenile Sire.

CHAMPION FRESHMAN SIRE

Nine stallions, all imported, had their first covering seasons in India in 2007. Their first crops have just finished their first racing year and Hazara Stud's Rebuttal has emerged as the Champion Freshman Sire. Not many would have backed the son of Mr. Greely in topping the table. The surprise is a pleasant and welcome one as Rebuttal has certainly caught everyone's eye. Here are the full details of the top three finishers:-
 

Midtown (Sans Craintes Stud) and Sunday Doubt (Dashmesh Stud) are no longer alive and in view of their promising starts, their deaths are to be mourned. Midtown was by Danehill and several sons of the Coolmore stalwart, most of them with better pedigrees and performance, have since landed in India. Sunday Doubt, however, was the only son of Sunday Silence, a sire sensation in Japan. The other first season sires -- Quest Star, Epsom Derby winner Oath, European, Imtiyaz (now retired due to infertility), Mambo Minstrel and Danehill Star -- all had AE Indices less than one and one can safely say that they failed to come upto the expectations.

Lovely Kiss and Dandified are the obvious stars of the Rebuttal show. If the first year's performance is very crucial to a new stallion's career, the second year's is no less important. Some stallions get off to flying starts but do not replicate the performance of their debut year. Royal Gleam -- sire of Royal Tern and Tulipa from his first crop -- is as good an example of this phenomenon as any. There are two other questions that are unanswered. First is whether the sire's progeny trains on and second how far they will go. Rebuttal has already had a winner -- and other runners -- from his second crop so that's an encouraging sign. Time alone will answer the other two questions. Speed and precocity are two attributes that the Rebuttals have exhibited so far so he very much looks the type to be in demand.

QUALITY INDEX

In the statistics published, there is table which ranks all stallions by their Average Earning Index. This is a quality index because it provides a useful, comparitive guide. A stallion with an AE Index above 1.00 is a good one indeed. A Freshman Sire rarely matches his first season index in his later years. Stallions standing abroad provide only an academic interest since they have very few runners and may not have them again in India regularly. Similarly, the progeny of stallions standing at Chettinad/Sholavaram races almost exclusively in Tamil Nadu. Omitting these three categories, the top ten stallions in the country in 2010-11 were:-
 

It nees to be mentioned that only two other stallions -- Emerald Cat (1.04) and Gaswar (1.01) -- had an index above '1'. Major Impact and Emerald Cat owed their high index substantially to the exploits of Pronto Pronto and Macchupicchu respectively. Epicentre, however, was a revelation and represents a value for money stallion from a purchaser's point of view.

CHAMPION BROODMARE SIRE

Usha Stud and China Visit may have been found wanting in the last few strides but Razeen led throughout the year and secured his fourth title in five years easing up. The top five stallions in this category were:-
 

PAST THE POST

It was Field Marshal's Mysore triumphs that spelt disaster for Usha and China Visit. They will surely see the irony of the fact that Field Marshal's dam is a daughter of Razeen!