Leading at the end of each quarter, Usha Stud just waltzed away in the run-in to retain the Champion Stud Farm crown in a spectacular fashion. This was its ninth title. From the year 1999-2000, the Champion Stud Farm has been decided by a formula approved by the Turf Authorities of India. That formula has been changed and tweaked over the years but the basic principle has remained a constant. Points are awarded commensurate with the importance of a race; an ordinary race gets one point while a Gr.1 race is worth thirty points. There are points for placing in a Black Type race and bonus points for winning a traditional, elite race like the Indian Derby. A stud which amasses the most points automatically becomes the Champion Stud Farm.

Champion Stud Farm 2021-22

Usha Stud's success was gained in a thumping fashion:-

The tally of black-type points and total points is the highest ever in the 'formula era'.

The winning margin is also the highest ever.

It is the first stud farm whose black-type total has gone into four figures.

During the year, it also became the first stud farm in India to breed winners of 100 Derbies.

Though the formula came into being from the year 1999-2000, the first Champion Stud award was made at Bangalore in March 1997 by the Turf Authorities of India and it was awarded to the Usha Stud. Since then, Usha Stud is the only nursery which has never finished out of the top five. That is a consistency of a very high order. One very significant aspect of Usha Stud's success this year is that it has been achieved with lesser numbers; of the other four farms in the 'Top Five' , two have had more starters. The resounding victory meant that Usha Stud also bagged most of the other important awards and they will be mentioned in the articles to follow.

WELL DONE, Usha Stud and Ms. Ameeta Mehra !

Over the last three decades, two nurseries -- Poonawalla Farms and Usha Stud -- have dominated the Indian breeding scene. In fact the Poonawalla Farms have more Championships to their credit. For the last two years, though, the Poonawalla Farms have had to be content with the runner-up berth. First in the Malvado-Riyahi era and then in the Placerville-Alnasr Alwasheek period, Poonawalla Farms had top class ammunition. Since Alnasr Alwasheek, none of the stallions have been good enough to make it to the Wall of Fame. The biggest disappointment has been the vaunted Roderic O'Connor, a Gr.1 Classic winner in Ireland and a Champion Sire in Brazil. There are just two Classic winners among his progeny so far and the better of them -- A Star Is Born -- was bred at Kunigal. In India, where farms only patronise their resident stallions, the success or failure of home stallions impacts a farm's performance directly. Poonawalla Farms has the resources and the practical know-how and are bound to come back strongly.

Most stud farms in India have grown from small beginnings. One stud farm which started big, was planned meticulously and backed by a strong racing operation was Nanoli Stud. Nanoli was the Champion Stud Farm in 2016-17 and has finished often in the higher rungs. Nanoli Stud has moved away from its original home on the banks of Indrayani to a more modest location on the other side of Pune. The operation has been scaled down and that would make it difficult for it to reclaim the Championship in the near future.

Manjri Stud, another Pune outfit, is a much older establishment but under the management of the Mistrys since the mid-1980s. It has never won the Championship. It has the numbers, a large racing operation but its stallions have not been of the required stature to vie for the top honours.

Kunigal has an even longer history than Manjri and it did win the Championship in 2015-16. That was the year when Desert God was invincible. For the next four years it remained in the 'Top Five' but had finished much lower last year. This year it has clawed its way back but faces an uncertain future. The land of the Kunigal Stud belongs to the Government of Karnataka and has been leased to United Bloodstock Breeders Ltd. That lease has expired and that is what puts its future in a state of flux.  

One stud farm not in the top five but deserving an honourable mention is the Bishan Stud located near Ludhiana in Punjab. It has not been long in existence but has already surged ahead of several establishments of a similar size. It finished ninth on the table, ahead of much older and bigger farms. Clearly, it is doing something right. Its resident stallion Gusto, a pure sprinter of just Listed class, has been successful beyond realistic expectations, thanks, to a large extent, to trainer Prasanna Kumar who has excelled with his progeny.
 
PAST THE POST

For the last two years, the foal crops in India have seen a dramatic fall with numbers in just three figures. It was in 1987 that the foal crop in India went past the 1000-mark for the first time. It dropped to three figures two years later but picked up again, reaching an all-time high of 1902 in 2011. Foals born this year are less than half of that high watermark and that is a matter of concern.

In 1950, immediately after the Independence, the foal crop was just 118. We still had racing but the number of active centres were much less. The Covid pandemic made the on-line betting platforms a necessity but that has opened a Pandora's Box with many international betting sites moving in. The net effect is that racing authorities in India are getting a lesser share of the betting rupee. That is the real worry.