Champion Sire - Number of Winners and Wins

Both these categories, which are quantity rather than quality based, were claimed by Sohna Stud's deceased stallion Noverre. Noverre, who died in 2012, had covered a few mares before his death and his last crop, born in 2013, consists of only five foals. So it is unlikely that he will have comparable statistics next year. For practical purposes, his 2012 crop is his last and it has brought him some posthumous plaudits. He was certainly a useful stallion but not one which would have contributed to the evolution of the Indian Thoroughbred. The top five in each category were:-

WINNERS. Noverre (88), Burden of Proof (77) Phoenix Tower (64), Multidimensional (63), Ace (57)

WINS. Noverre (166), Always A Rainbow (134), Burden of Proof (132), Phoenix Tower (108), Multidimensional (107)  

Champion Maternal Grandsire

Usha Stud's Razeen (Northern Dancer - Secret Asset) won six Champion Sire titles but Placerville (Mr. Prospector - Classy Cathy), aided by larger numbers, topped that figure with seven.  Initially, it looked as if the two stallions would again lock horns as maternal grandsires. However, in the last few years, the son of Northern Dancer seems to be drawing away and in the year under review he simply pulverized his rivals to claim his seventh Champion Maternal Grandsire accolade. Placerville has two titles and a lot of catching up to do. The top five in the table were:-

Remarkably, the top three positions have been exactly the same in previous four years. King's Best owes his high position solely to the exploits of Be Safe. Usha Stud will be heartened by having two of its stallions consistently in the top three while Kunigal Stud will be similarly encouraged to see Burden of Proof break into the leading quintet for the first time. It is reasonable to suppose that he is there to stay.

From the point of what's to come, the Champion Juvenile Sire and Champion Freshman Sire are very important. The Champion Juvenile Sire table contained three Chettinad Stud stallions in the top three and since they don't have an All-India impact, they have been omitted. Just for the record, Marcus Andronicus was second, Decado fourth and Always a Rainbow fifth. As has been Noverre who has only five foals in his 2013 crop so is unlikely to be a significant player in the year to come.

Champion Juvenile Sire

Champion Juvenile Sire, Phoenix Tower (Chester House - Bionic by Zafonic)) held on to win his second second crown with his third crop. That he did so getting the better of Azazan (Anabaa - Asmara by Lear Fan) who had much more starters is a further feather in his cap. Unless a stallion has a phenomenal year, it is hard for a stud farm to vie for top honours. Arabian Gulf has done his best but that is not enough and this is where Manjri Stud might fall a bit short in its quest. Besides, we are still searching for confirmation that Phoenix Tower can produce contenders to excel over the Derby distance. Burden of Proof was his usual consistent, dependable self. He will have the support of 22 Admiralofthefleet's born in 2013 and if that stallion's performance this is year is a dependable yardstick, Kunigal Stud should once again be in the fighting line. China Visit, somewhat on the ice for a few years, had probably his best juvenile year ever and he sired his first 3YO Classic winner in Bullrun. He did not have a runner in the Deccan Derby but in the four other 3YO Derbies over 2000 m., a China Visit was on the board. By his own exalted standards, Multidimensional's third crop was a disappointment. A point to be noted, though that he had an incredibly high percentage of winners to starters in that crop, many of them registering their maiden wins in the later stages of the year. If that crop improves further at 4, Usha Stud with a more substantial support from China Visit, will be right in the mix.

Champion Freshman Sire

There was never any doubt that given the record number of 92 foals in his first crop, Arazan would finish as the Champion Freshman Sire and he duly did so. He had two Classic winners in his first crop in Eternal Flame and Bold  Command. Bold Command and Bold Appeal were beaten in the Mysore and Pune Derbies respectively though it was noticeable that they plugged on determinedly and that was an encouraging sign. The question whether his progeny will stay is as yet unanswered. Every stallion gets some horses which excel beyond the Average Winning Distance of the sires progeny and so Arazan will get some horses that stay the Derby distance. Whether they do so in top contests is a moot point for now. Any stud farm will be elated by having a Champion Freshman Sire . Poonawalla Farms will be aware though that Ace, Champion Freshman Sire in 2011-12, fell short of their expectations and was given no mares to cover in 2014. Ace had an AE Index of 1.30 in his first year. Arazan has a marginally better AE Index of 1.48. It is rare for a stallion to improve upon his first season AE Index and three other Freshmen Sires had an AE Index higher than him. Unless Arazan belongs to those rare cases, it will be difficult for him to rejuvenate a farm that is currently in Chelsea FC like state.

Admiralofthefleet (Danehill - Rafina by Mr. Prospector) impressed with his first crop and he had a better AE Index than the Champion Freshman Sire. Worryingly, his strike rate of winners to starters was poor; happily, the quality of his winners was high. He has only a token representation in his third crop and if his second crop unveils as much quality, he will aid his senior barn-mate Burden of Proof to keep the Kunigal flag fluttering. Varenar (Rock of Gibraltar - Visor by Mr. Prospector), who had the beating of the great Goldikova in Gr.1 race, disappointed but Stern Opinion ( Mizzen Mast - Helstra by Nureyev) and Ravel (Fusaichi Pegasus - Let by A.P.Indy) outdid themselves. Stern Opinion was a sprinter and that is a quality that he is passing on to his progeny along with precocity. He will get winners but Classic aspirations appear to be limited. Ravel is owned by Dolphin Stud but stands at Chhatari Stud. In Jefferson, he has sired a very good horse. He stands at a new, small establishment and his problem will be that he will be covering a modest band of broodmares. He looks, though, an excellent stallion for an owner-breeder to patronize.

PAST THE POST

If there was a breeders' organization championing the cause of a vanishing species, it would have taken up the case of the owner-breeder. The owner-breeder is now almost extinct whereas he once added to the spine of the breeding industry. People like Mr.R.J. Gazdar, Mr. N.E.D. Pandole, tennis international Mr. Naresh Kumar, to mention just three names came readily to mind, were once prominent. 

One of the surviving members of that endangered tribe is Mr. Geoffrey Nagpal, a member of R.W.I.T.C. Committee and a long time owner-breeder. He has boarded his mares at various farms and his recent association was with Lingwood Stud where he patronized the stallion Gaswar initially and Declaration of War later on.  Mr. Nagpal had a filly, a first foal, by Declaration of War out his unraced Burden of Proof mare Crystal Slipper. She was called Stiletto and won two races for her owner-breeder. Crystal Slipper then moved to Chhatari Stud where Jefferson was born. Mr. Nagpal has a full-brother and a full-sister to Jefferson in the pipeline. Jefferson won the S.A. Poonawalla Multi-Million, Gr.3 in style and has been put away with Mumbai Classics in mind. The Ravel-Crystal Slipper has interesting pedigree patterns and Jefferson's progress needs to be watched.