El Toro – The Bull has been the cynosure of the entire South these last few weeks, with Tamil Nadu embroiled in the Jalli Kattu matter. Well the Bangalore Racecourse was witness to a very different Toro on Republic Day. This was no Bull, but a got abroad thoroughbred named after the RED BULL FORMULA ONE  RACING TEAM – TOROROSSO.  He took the B.N.Gudiyappa Bangalore Derby by the Horns and virtually decimated the field to become the first Maiden after Pyare Mia to win a Derby since 1975.

Owned by Vikram Singh and Nirmal Singh, trained by Irfan Ghatala, ridden by Neeraj Rewal and bred at the Hazara Stud, Tororosso became the third successive Regional Derby Winner this Year to sport the Number 8 and win by a widening margin. Hall Of Famer was No. 8 in the Calcutta Derby.  Salazaar too carried the same number when winning the South India Derby  and Tororosso made 8 a truly magical digit on the 26^th of January. If the sequence continues in the Golconda Derby on Sunday then the Horse that carries the Number 8 in the Indian Derby is going to be watched by every numerologist on the Racetrack.

Tororosso, the bay son of Red Giant out of mare named Paula’s Girl has been one difficult customer to train from the very start. Vikram Singhliked what he saw in the dam when she came up for sale and bought her without a second thought. She came in foal to Red Giant and trainer Irfan Ghatala probably shed blood, sweat and tears from the time he got him. Blood flowed from a nasty scalp wound that Irfan suffered on the day the gelding made his debut on the 9^th of July, 2016.

 He was taking on Hall Of Famer that afternoon, but he went ballistic in the Saddling Enclosure. He reared up and smacked Irfan across the head with his forelegs. Irfan was lucky to get away with a superficial injury as were his support staff. They still managed to get a saddle onto him and he was packed off to the Starting Stalls with Zervan astride. The Handlers managed to get him into the Gates, but he was so worked up that he played up merry hell and was finally withdrawn after he flipped over while rearing up.

People put  a line through him after that. With a temperament like that how could you even think that he was in that Classic mould. It was here that jockey S.Selvaraj came to Irfan’s assistance. Together they set about harnessing and channeling Tororosso’s raw aggression and brute force into racing. It was going to take time and initially there was more heartbreak than joy but they were making headway. On the 10^th of December, one day before Hall Of Famer ran a close second in the Indian 1000 Guineas, Tororosso turned in a performance in the Bangalore 2000 Guineas to announce that he was throwing down the gauntlet. He ran within three lengths of the winner Battalion and he looked to be finishing on. The Handicapper bumped him up 33 Pounds for that effort but he would still line up in the Derby rated 14 pounds below the Guineas winner

Tororosso was strongly fancied by his owners and trainer Irfan Ghatala was quietly confident. After all the gelding had learnt to settle and he had come on a lot since the second Saturday of December. Moreover the additional four furlongs in the Derby was going to suit the gelding to the tee. They all expected him to go close, but I doubt that even his most staunch ally could ever have envisaged the sort of performance that the Hazara Stud bred turned in. He won by a mind boggling margin of a shade under 8 lengths, leaving the opposition strung out like washing in his wake. He stopped the clock at 2 Min 31.69 Sec and that was while being eased up in the last furlong.

It was triumph that dreams are made of, as the Red Bull Tororosso scripted a fairytale which few could have believed possible. If there ever was an example that could showcase the glorious uncertainty of the Sport Of Kings and the romance of the Turf then this must surely be it. He may not have sported the same colours as the Red Bull Formula One Racing Team after whom he is named, but Tororosso’s incredible acceleration with Neeraj Rawal in the saddle would have gladdened the hearts of any Racing Car driver anywhere in the world of Motorsport.