There was horse breeding in India during the 19th century but apart from the activity that took place under the Army control, much of it was haphazard. Racing depended mainly on imported Arabs, Capers and Walers. Proper breeding of Thoroughbreds in India can be said to have commenced in the 1910's when the Renala Stud near Lahore, Royal Stud Farm -- later to become Manjri Stud -- at Pune and Willingdon Stud at Sirur were established.  For a long time, the stallions used by these stud farms came from the stock racing in India. The quality of racing in India at that time was considered good enough for Australia, England, France and U.S.A. to import stallion prospects from India so there was nothing amiss in local breeders standing them.

It was to be a while before the Indian-bred had a viable racing programme and the institution of the Indian Classics in 1942-43 provided a yardstick by which to judge stallions. The first stallion to make a profound impact was Renala Stud's Sheridan (br 1927 Son-in-Law - Comedienne by Bachelor's Double).

Sheridan was appropriately named after the famous playwright. He raced just once at 3, met with an accident and was imported to India. Despite the best efforts of Sir Victor's trainer E.S. Godfrey, it was found impossible to get the colt racing fit again. Sir Victor most generously gifted Sheridan to Renala Stud and the horse commenced his duties from covering season of 1932.

Sheridan was born in the year when his older Hurry On half-brother Call Boy won the Epsom Derby for Mr. Frank Curzon. Call Boy had been beaten a short-head in the Two Thousand Guineas by Adam's Apple. He then won the Newmarket Stakes over 10 furlongs in impressive fashion but the public was reluctant to support him because his owner was known to be seriously ill. In those days, as per the prevailing rules, a horse's entries became null and void if the owner died. The strong desire to see Call Boy, who was also bred by him, win the Derby kept Mr. Curzon going and against medical advice he was at Epsom on a damp and gloomy day.

The 1927 Derby was the first one to be broadcast by the B.B.C. A steady drizzle reduced the visibility but the caller was spared some ordeal as the favourite Call Boy led from the start. For a brief moment in the straight, Hot Night, owned by Sir Victor Sassoon, ranged alongside but Charlie Elliot got into his mount and Call Boy pulled away to win by two lengths. (Incidentally, Hot Night came to India and stood as a stallion). In spite of his physical fraility, Mr. Curzon did lead the winner in and later walked up to the Royal Box to receive the King's congratulations. The Derby Day exertions had their effect and Mr. Curzon, a former actor who owned a clutch of West End theatres, died within a month. Call Boy was bought for 60,000 gns by Mr. Curzon's brother. He did not race after the Derby and proved virtually sterile at stud. 

Comedienne was from the first crop of Bachelor's Double, later to make a name for himself as a significant broodmare sire. She was bought by Mr. Curzon as a yearling for 130 gns and she won four races for him. Before Call Boy, who was her fourth foal, she had produced Comedy King, a full-brother to Sheridan, who won the Great Yorkshire Stakes and placed in Eclipse Stakes as well as the Champion Stakes. Comedy King and Sheridan were three-parts brothers to Aloe who went on to become a "Blue Hen" matriarch. Sir Victor Sassoon paid 11,000 gns. for Comedienne with Sheridan at her foot.

Maj. Dennis Vanrennen had established Renala Stud in the fertile doab between the Ravi and the Beas, about 75 miles south-west of Lahore. To begin with the area had been arid but once the canal network was in place, the virgin land became an ideal setting for horse breeding. Renala Stud initially started in 1913 as a venture to breed horses for the Army. The Thoroughbred division was added later in 1922. Renala had several advantages;  its vast acreage, extreme climate, round the year grazing and top class management being the most important. The farm was organized in self-contained sections, each covering about 250 acres. In the centre were the stables surrounded by smaller paddocks for stallions, weanlings, mares about to foal and horses not in pink of condition. On the outer periphery were the large paddocks, each about 10 acres in size. A section had about 15 large paddocks housing about 50 mares along with one or two stallions. In its halcyon days, Renala Stud had about 150 remount and 50 to 60 Thoroughbred mares. The Headquarters Section had the veterinary hospital, riding schools, elementary and advanced jumping courses and an administrative block. 

Renala Stud's remount horses won the Quadir Cup -- the premier pigsticking competition in the country -- thrice and several made it to the final rounds. When the Thoroughbred section was added, the stallions chosen were Helford, Quarryman and Owen Roe. Quarryman and Owen Roe were hardy, speedy horses which had won good races in India. It was into this set-up that Sheridan stepped in.

The Indian Stud Book began maintaining the records from 1935 onwards. Hence, the exact details of Sheridan's first two crops are not completely known. In the next 13 crops before he died in July 1946, Sheridan covered 407 mares, produced 246 foals of whom 204 were named. His seventh crop, born in 1939, was the first one to have the Classic opportunities which were unavailable to his earlier six crops. The advent of younger stallions like Short Hand, Illuminate, Celebrator, Sagittarius, Okay, Marlborough and his own son Philosopher meant that Sheridan's later foal crops were only of a modest size.

Sheridan sired three Classic winners in Deepak (Indian Derby, Gr.1), Royal Windsor (Indian St. Leger, Gr.1) and Namdar (Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1). His sons Yeshwant, War Admiral and Gay Son were on board in the Indian Derby while his daughter Solar Kiss placed second to Odds On in the Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1.  The Idar Gold Cup over 7 furlongs was the lead-up race for the Classics in those days and Sheridan's progeny won it thrice through Husn-Ara, Winston and Sheritoy. Yeshwant  and Flower of Gwalior won the Rajaram Chhatrapati Memorial Gold Cup while the latter was also victorious in the Eve Champion Cup. Two other good winners by Sheridan were Bridge Winner (Mysore Trophy) and Lydia (September Handicap).

The very first Indian Derby was a personal triumph for Sheridan. Princess Beautiful, who won that race, was out of Roibelle, a first crop daughter of his. And, finishing second to her was his son Yeshwant. By Son-in-Law out of a Bachelor's Double mare -- both exceptional sires of fillies -- it was no surprise that Sheridan's daughters did well at stud. Apart from Princess Beautiful, he was also the damsire of Balam (Indian Derby, Gr.1), Loyal Manzar (Indian Triple Crown) and Nava Ratna (Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1 and Indian Oaks, Gr.1). Don Juan, Take On, Versha and Yaar, all of whom placed in one Indian Classic or the other and were also out of Sheridan mares. At the time of the Partition, a large number of Sheridan mares went in to Pakistan. They continued to excel on the other side of the border, producing horses like Fairbrook (Pakistan Derby), Star of Bhit (Pakistan 2000 Guineas), President (Pakistan 2000 Guineas), Reveille (Pakistan St. Leger) and Randal (Aga Khan's Gold Cup).

Some outstanding broodmare sires like Habitat and Vaguely Noble failed to produce successful sire sons. Four sons of Sheridan -- Philosopher, Deepak, Play Boy and Flower of Gwalior -- were registered as stallions but other than Philosopher the other three hardly covered a mare. Philosopher was from the first crop of Sheridan. He started racing only as a 4YO and won three minor races, one at Calcutta and two at Lucknow. Eight starts over the next two years failed to see him earn a winning bracket and yet the astute Maj. Vanrennen decided to give him a chance as a stallion. This was completely in keeping with the avowed mission statement of Renala Stud, that of "producing stallions and saddle horses of a type most suited for use in India and other tropical countries".

Philosopher repaid the trust reposed in him a thousand fold. His first crop contained Philanthropist who won the King-Emperor's Cup, Eve Champion Cup and Rajpipla Cup for the Maharaja of Parlakimedi as well as Khan Bahadur who was second to Deepak in the Indian Derby, Gr.1. Then came Gwalior's Shan-E-Hind who was third in the Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1 but was even better as he aged and won several races including Maharaja Sir Harisinghji Cup and Eve Champion Cup. 1949-50 was a purple year for Philosopher as his daughter Gamble For Love won the first three Indian Classics and his son Mansoor Beg annexed the Indian Derby. He was the first Indian-bred stallion to sire an Indian Classic winner. Mansoor Beg was the favourite to win the Indian St. Leger, Gr.1 but was beaten a length by Summer Lightning, another Renala-bred. That one length deprived Philosopher of becoming the first -- and the only -- stallion to claim all five Indian Classics in one year. Was it grief that caused his death later in the year on 15 October 1950 ? He was also the sire of National Flag and Piarehind who placed in Indian Classics. His daughters produced Titwillow (Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1), Symbol of Love (Maharaja Sir Harisinghji Cup, Gr.3) and Ethics II (A.C. Ardeshir Cup, Gr.3, Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia Cup, Gr.3, Maharaja Sir Harisinghji Cup, Gr.3) as well as Chatterbox and Royal Lady who were on board in an Indian Classic. Philosopher did exceptionally well in Pakistan siring two winners of Pakistan Derby in Ripple and Rehber. He was the damsire of several good winners in Pakistan including four -- Lorina, Leonardo, Lavender and Village Dancer -- who won the Pakistan Derby.

Sheridan was a complete sire -- successful as a sire, a significant broodmare sire and a sire of sires. His progeny was steeped in stamina but the racing programme in India -- or Pakistan for that matter -- did not have enough long distance races exclusively for Indian-breds. Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia's first Indian Derby winner was Sheridan's son Deepak. The Maharaja was fond of big, dark bay horses in the Deepak mould ,and every year he was sure to buy from Renala Stud. His trainer Maj. V.M. Lad loved his Renala trips to select the yearlings. According to him, the weather, the hospitality, the facilities and above all the horses at Renala took one's breath away. Talking of Renala stallions, he once said that they were all very correct and bursting out of their skins. "But," he added, "there was only one Badshah. Sheridan."

PAST THE POST

Call Boy was decidedly the best of Comedienne's produce. While his three half-brothers -- Comedy King, Sheridan and Strolling Player -- did their job successfully in the stallion barn, Call Boy though proved to be virtually sterile. Comedy King, Sheridan and Strolling Player were rich bays whereas Call Boy was a chestnut. Obviously, just a coincidence but there are books on colour coat inheritance which suggests that the colour coat has its own significance.