Burden of Proof (b 1992 Fairy King - Belle Passe by Be My Guest) passed away peacefully at Kunigal Stud around 11.00 a.m.on 2 August 2016 at Kunigal Stud Farm. It is a pity that his first official Champion Sire title will now come as a posthumous award. There are still three months to go before the year ends but exploits of Desert God and Accolade have left their sire in a commanding position at the top of the table and it will only be fitting if he maintains the advantage right till the end. He was thwarted twice -- in 2012-13 and 2014-15 -- with Always A Rainbow usurping the honours by exploiting the loop holes in the system.

The son of Fairy King was a hardy customer who won a dozen races spread over five years of racing. Bred by Lyonstown stud in Ireland, Burden of Proof was initially owned by the legendary Vincent O'Brien and trained by his son Charles O'Brien. He made a winning debut at Curragh when Christie Roche rode him to a facile victory on 17 September 1994. Almost exactly five years later, he ran the last of his 32 starts, again at Curragh. All his races, bar one excursion to Royal Ascot, were run in Ireland. His last four starts were in the colours of Mr. Michel Tabor when Aidan O'Brien trained him at Ballydoyle. Half of his 12 wins were gained at a mile and the others at shorter distances.  A consistent sprinter-miler, his best official rating was 118. Among the races that he won were the Budweiser World Cup International Stakes, Gr.2, Juddmonte Beresford Stakes, Gr.3, Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes and Ragusa Stud Minstrel Stakes, Gr.3.

Burden of Proof arrived at Kunigal Stud in time to commence his duties in 2000. Before his first crop of 26 named foals started racing, the Kunigal Stud was a on cloud nine following the brilliant success of Saddle Up in Malaysia. Burden of Proof did not disappoint. His first crop contained five Classic winners which was then a record for India. It was no surprise that he finished as the Champion Freshman Sire in 2003-04. Then followed a brief hiatus as structural and administrative changes at Kunigal Stud saw Burden of Proof losing ground.  The revival started with Fleeting Arrow and since then the stallion has had a Classic winner in each of his subsequent crops. His best crop statistically was the one dropped in 2010 for it contained six Classic winners. About 420 named foals from his 13 crops have so far raced and they contain approximately 320 winners who have won close to 1200 races and earned around Rs. 75 crores in stake money.  He has about 100 foals still to race including those which will be born in 2017. Age had taken its toll and his fertility in 2016 was lesser than before with only about 20 mares confirmed in foal.

The current all-time, top five stallions in the country are headed by Razeen (57 Classic winners; 110 Classics). The Usha Stud stalwart is followed by Placerville (42/77), Riyahi (33/72), Malvado (29/58) and Ilheus (26/50).  There is every chance that Burden of Proof can work his way into the leading quintet by 2021. So far, Burden of Proof is the brooadmare sire of two Classic winners in Call Me Classy and Cameron.

The statistics have a place of their own but a stallion, especially a very good one, transcends them. With Burden of Proof you got versatility and consistency. Though he himself was only a sprinter-miler, he did get a Stayers' Cup, Gr.1 winner like Arabian Prince. Horses like Desert God, Abs Fabs, Sans Pareil, Sur La Tete, Agostini and New Alliance have won a winter Classic over 2400 m. But majority of his runners were sprinter-milers like he himself. Having sired two winners of the Derby Bangalore (Fantabulous King and Aboline), three Indian Classic winners (Siachen, Mariinsky and Desert God) and a winner of the Indian Turf Invitation Cup (Desert God), Burden of Proof underlined his 'class' credentials emphatically.

Surprisingly, his own sire Fairy King, a full-brother to Sadler's Wells, isn't thought much of in Europe as a sire of sires. In India, though, Burden of Proof, Royal Kingdom (troubled by fertility problems) and Hymn at his own level were successful. In Australia, Fairy King's son Encosta de Lago has been a conspicuous success. Burden of Proof traced in the tail female line to Sanfara and this family has produced good sires like Boldnesian, Lords, Cryptoclearance, Harlan's Holiday, Fordham, Duke of Marmalade, Boone's Cabin and others. It has also been successful in India with the likes of Holding Court, Attila, Al Dente, River God and Adesina.

Burden of Proof sired four Classic winners from four different Tejano mares and three from three different Razeen mares. He also has three Classic winners from two Bold Russian mares and two from a Steinbeck mare. Nine of his Classic winners are chestnuts while 15 are bays. Four sons of Burden of Proof -- Fantabulous King, Fleeting Arrow, Aboline and most recently Agostini made it to the stallion ranks but did not receive the required support. It is an unfortunate aspect of Indian breeding that since the days of Hyder Ali we have not been able to develop an Indian male-line.

PAST THE POST

 The best tribute that one can pay to Burden of Proof is to recount his Classic winners:-

LINDSAY (b f 2001 Bangalore Fillies' Trial Stakes, Gr.1)

FANTABULOUS KING (b c 2001 Kingfisher Derby Bangalore, Gr.1)

CAMARIOCA (ch f 2001 K.R.O.A. Mysore 1000 Guineas, Gr.3)

FULL SPEED (b c 2001 Mysore Derby, Gr.1-NTR, Bangalore 2000 Guineas, Gr.2)

STARANZANO (ch c 2001 Golconda 2000 Guineas, Gr.2)

FLEETING ARROW (b c 2005 Bangalore Colts' Trial Stakes, Gr.1, Harvins Bangalore 2000 Guineas, Gr.2)

ABS FABS (b f 2005 Poonawalla Mysore Derby, Gr.1, Eveready Calcutta Derby, Gr.1)

ABOLINE (b c 2006 Kingfisher Derby Bangalore, Gr.1, Casino Royale Calcutta 2000 Guineas, Gr.2)

SANS PAREIL (b f 2006 Poonawalla Calcutta Oaks, Gr.3)

ARABIAN PRINCE (ch rig 2006 Vijay Textiles Golconda Derby, Gr.1, Bangalore St. Leger, Gr.2)

SIACHEN (ch f 2007 Bangalore Fillies' Trial Stakes, Gr.1, Giantti by Gitanjali Lifestyle  Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1, Bangalore 1000 Guineas, Gr.2)

SURYA LAKSHMI (b f 2008 Golconda 1000 Guineas, Gr.2)

CHASE THE SUN (ch f 2009 Calcutta Oaks, Gr.2, Calcutta 1000 Guineas, Gr.3)

JERSEY GIRL (b f 2009 Bangalore 1000 Guineas, Gr.2)

ACCLAIMED (b g 2010 Deccan Bookmakers' Colts' Championship Stakes, Gr.3)

APPARITION (b f 2010 Deccan Bookmakers' Golconda 1000 Guineas, Gr.2)

MARIINSKY (b f 2010 Deltin Casinos Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1, Bangalore 1000 Guineas, Gr.2)

CHARLATAN (b g 2010 Calcutta 2000 Guineas, Gr.2)

SUR LA TETE (ch f 2010 Golconda Oaks, Gr.2)

AGOSTINI (b c 2010 Bangalore Derby, Gr.1)

SPREADEAGLE (ch g 2011 Vijay Textiles Deccan Derby, Gr.1)

NEW ALLIANCE (b f 2012 Bangalore Oaks, Gr.2, K.R.O.A. Mysore 1000 Guineas, Gr.3)

BRILLIANT CUT (chc 2012 Bangalore 2000 Guineas, Gr.2)

DESERT GOD (ch c 2012 Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby, Gr.1, Calcutta Derby, Gr.1, Deccan Derby, Gr.1, Calcutta 2000 Guineas, Gr.2, Deccan Colts' Championship Stakes, Gr.3)