On 27 March 2013, the Machiavellian mare Alnasreya foaled a bay colt at Kunigal Stud to her earlier cover by Burden of Proof. The colt was bred by U.R.B.B. Ltd. and he was retained for racing. He obviously showed plenty of potential because he was picked by Pesi Shroff and moved to Western India. He was named Accolade. The connections would hardly have imagined that a colt so named would be the one to bestow Kunigal Stud with a historic feat. His victory in the Deccan Colts' Championship Stakes, Gr.3 is the 100th Classic win registered by a Kunigal-bred. Only four other stud farms in India -- Poonawalla Farms, Usha/Mehra Stud, Chettinad/Sholavarma Stud and Dasmesh/Hargobind Stud -- have reached landmark before.  

Horses have been bred at Kunigal since the time of Hyder Ali. Even before that, Kunigal was a 'sarai' used by Arab horse traders who walked their horses from Mangalore to Bangalore. Admittedly, the early horses bred at Kunigal were cavalry horses to feed the forces of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. After the Mysore Wars, the Wadiyar family was restored to the throne and Kunigal continued to breed horses to meet the needs of the state for ceremonial and police horses.

When the Indian princes caught the racing bug in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Mysore also joined in and Kunigal began to breed Thoroughbreds. The Mysore State records show that the St. Leger winner Pero Gomez was imported as a stallion to stand at Kunigal in 1880s. The earliest efforts at promoting Indian breeding saw the "Country-Bred Classics" being run at Poona  in 1919. The two races framed were the Poona Country-Bred Derby (7 furlongs) and Poona Country-Bred St. Leger (10 furlongs) and were open to local-bred  three and four year-olds. The Derby in the inaugural year was won  by Maharaja of Rajpipla's  The Tipster (Sugar Apple - Cow Donna) while Mountain Apple (Sugar Apple - Brynbella), owned by Col  J.J. Richardson, took the longer race. The most unique feature of those two races was that the first four horses in both the races were Kunigal-bred sons of  Sugar Apple. Submarine, Mountain Apple and Applewood followed The Tipster in the Derby and though Applewood failed to come on board in the St. Leger, Suffona filled his place. Sugar Apple (Persimmon - Rosalys by Bend Or) had won a couple of races at Calcutta and he was a three-parts brother to Rosaline, the dam of  the Epsom Oaks victress Rosedrop and grandam of Triple Crown winner Gainsborough. The experiment of "Country-bred Classics" was a short lived one for after eight runnings, the races were discontinued. The last Poona Country-Bred Derby in 1926 was won by Kunigal-bred (Old Drury - Sugar-Mun-Wine by Sugar Apple).

Only three Indian Classics were contested in the  1942-43. The first Indian Oaks was run in 1944 and it was the Kunigal-bred filly Same Again, owned by the colourful and controversial Maj. A. Swamvur, who won it. Same Again was a daughter of Irish 2000 Guineas winner Hocus Pocus who was then resident at Kunigal Stud. In those early days of Indian Classics, Kunigal mixed it up with big-hitters and had its share of the spoils. Jack Diamond (Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1), Rough Deal (Indian Derby, Gr.1), Titwillow (Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1), Kimsel (Indian St. Leger, Gr.1) and Fairwood (Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1 and Indian Derby, Gr.1) shone at Mahalakshmi; Esquire (Derby Bangalore, Gr.1 and Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1), Portofino (Calcutta Derby, Gr.1) and Mossy Bear (Calcutta Triple Crown) also won big races so that when the Mysore Government handed over to Bangalore Turf Club, Ltd. in late 1960s, Kunigal had notched up 19 Classics. Mahasakthi was the last Classic winner of the Mysore Government era. Some of the winners were bred by individual breeders but all were foaled at Kunigal.  Among the stallions which held court during this period were Hocus Pocus, Kimberley, Willoughton, Port Desire, Bold Bob, Ardent Knight and Glory of Andhra.

It was a stallion imported during the times of Mysore Government -- High Commission -- which got off Bangalore Turf Club Ltd.'s innings to a grand start with his first crop colt Topmost winning the Calcutta Derby, Gr.1, Indian Derby, Gr.1 and Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1 for owner-breeder Mr. D. K. Das. The 1970s brought fair results with Prince Ardent winning the Bangalore Derby, Gr.1, Topspin picking up the Calcutta Derby, Gr.1 and Winged Wonder bagging the Nilgiris Derby, Gr.1 along with a few lesser Classics. The only stallion of note after High Commission to stand at  Kunigal was Knight of Medina who had a briief tenure before moving to Paramvir Stud, his permanent home in Tohana.  18 Classic winners came from Kunigal while the reins were in Bangalore Turf Club Ltd.'s hands but it had gone a decade without a Classic winner when Dr. Vijay Mallya's United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders Ltd. came in.

The location remained the same but the bloodstock was new. The broodmare band consisted primarily of mares which had raced in Dr. Mallya's colours, some of them with utmost distinction. The entire operation was spruced up and modernized and a new stallion -- the Beefeater Gin Celebration Mile, Gr.2 winner Bold Russian -- was in place. Bold Russian's first crop filly Sabre Dance won the Calcutta Oaks, Gr.2 to set the ball rolling. Then came Saddle Up, internationally the highest ranked Indian-bred. In India, Saddle Up won the Bagpiper Gold Bangalore Derby, Gr.1 and was first past the post in the McDowell Indian Derby, Gr.1.However, he was disqualified after his post race sample came positive. He moved to Singapore and it was something of poetic justice when he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II, Gr.2 at Kranji on disqualification of the on-course winner Boccelli for testing positive. He also won the Tunku Gold Cup, L in Malaysia. His finest performance, though, was in placing sixth of 14 runners that contested the Hong Kong Cup, Gr.1, just about two lengths behind the winner Agnes Digital.

Bold Russian was followed by the useful Tejano, a Gr.1 winner in U.S.A. Then came Burden of Proof and the son of Fairy King carried Kunigal to new heights. Burden of Proof, who died just recently, became the first Kunigal stallion to sire ten or more individual Classic winners. As of now, Burden of Proof's record reads 25 Classic winners of 39 Classics. 63 Classics have been won by Kunigal-breds in the URBB times and the progeny of Burden of Proof has won more than the combined total of other stallions to highlight how vital he has been to Kunigal's cause. He has a few records to his credit and the latest one is that his son Desert God is the highest stakes earner in India. A record based on stakes earnings is ephemeral but there is no harm in basking in its limelight while it stands. The departed stallion still has about 100 foals to bat for him posthumously and he is sure to add to his tally. In between, Brave Act was added to Kunigal stallion roster. He didn't come up to the expectations so a lot will depend Air Support whose first crop foals are now yearlings.

The upward swing on an old location has squashed the belief that Bangalore area had become horse sick. Several farms around Bangalore have closed down in recent years but the success of Kunigal shows that the location cannot be blamed. One tremendous asset that the stud farm has is that some of its best produce is retained by Dr. Mallya and raced professionally to win greater laurels. There is a laudable interaction between the breeding and racing arms of the operation that maximizes the potential. Besides, the land holding of Kunigal Stud is comparable to most of the leading stud farms in India and that is always an advantage.

PAST THE POST

Anyone who is interested in the full list of Kunigal Stud's 100 Classic wins can check the stud farm's website where they are shown. A purist may question the inclusion of an odd three or four wins but then racing administration of this country is not run by purists. We have no central authority to define a Classic and we are country where we have a plethora of Classics. More Classics, in fact, that England, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and U.S.A. put together. It is not a problem without a solution. But it is a problem that has no solution because our administrators have a 'regional' agenda as opposed to a 'national' one.