Since buying the hardy five-year-old Chandit from Richard Hanon's stable earlier this summer, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla has been a welcome - and frequent- visitor to British race-courses. By all accounts, there is plenty of excitement in Indian breeding circles around the son of Wootton Bassett's imminent relocation to Poonawalla's stud farm in Pune, where he'll by joining a stallion roster made up of names not unfamiliar to many European breeders: Excellent Art, Roderic O'Connor and Leitir Mor.

The move also makes a high point in the career of Gaurav Rampal, the Indian bloodstock agent who helped to broker the deal on behalf of Dr Poonawalla. Rampal started out in the bloodstock business at quite literally the bottom  (with a fork and mucksack) at Poonawalla Farms. Full circle, you might say; "it's a long way from where I started, yet also exactly where I started," says Rampal, with a grin, on a flying visit to Newmarket to watch the horse's penultimate run here, a close third in the Joel Stakes.

"It's the first proper stallion deal that I have done for Dr Poonawalla, and it's nice that it's a big, high-profile one," the agent explains. "I follow European racing thoroughly and the horse has been on my radar for some time. Last November, [fellow bloodstock agent] Richard Venn and I discussed him with Dr Poonawalla. Earlier this after he had run so well in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, we decided to make our move to buy him."

Poonawalla is a household name in India, best known for the Serum Institute he founded back in 1966. Now managed by his son Adar, it is the world's largest producer of affordable vaccines, including those for malaria and corona-virus as well as common diseases such as mumps, measles and rubella. It has given the Poonawalla family the financial resources to compete at the highest level in Indian racing, with ten winners of the Indian Derby and dozen champion breeders' titles. It all means that Chindit can look forward to a book of more than 100 mares in 2024, all of them owned by Dr Poonawalla and his family.

"Chindit will suit the broodmare band there beautifully," says Rampal. "He's a sound horse, physically as well as mentally, and loves fast and firm going, which of course is what we get on India racecourses. He also has a great turn of foot, something all breeders like in a stallion. And he's from an emerging sire line: the way Coolmore has backed Wootton Bassett is a big deal, and that sire line of Iffraaj, Zafonic and Gone West will suit a lot of mares in India."

Strangely, perhaps, Rampal has no family background in breeding or racing. In choosing to follow a career with thoroughbreds he is turning the conventional way of doing things in India on its head, to some extent, too.
"I went to boarding school in India and had riding lessons from the age of six, so that's how I fell in love with horses," he explains. "I have a degree in business and an MBA in marketing in finance. In India, an MBA is usually a ticket to a management position in industry – in our country, there's no culture of starting at the bottom and working your way up, in any business. Yet that's what I chose to do: I started working on Dr Poonawalla's stud farm because I hated the brief period of time I spent working as a banker, and the lure of the horse was too strong.

In India, an MBA is usually a ticket to a management position in industry – in our country, there’s no culture of starting at the bottom and working your way up, in any business. Yet that’s what I chose to do.

"I could have earned good money in industry, but I knew it wasn't what I wanted to do," Rampal continues. "I couldn't quite work out how I could become a bloodstock agent, but I was very lucky to spend some time in England in 2006, learning more about the thoroughbred business. A few people went out of their way to help me out. Anthony Stroud was kind and let me serve a short apprenticeship with him, helping in his office and then shadowing him at the yearling sales, all of which was an invaluable experience.

"I then spent a couple of months at Ted Voute's farm near Stratford-upon- Avon: Ted was a great teacher and always willing to explain anything, no matter how many questions I asked him. I then spent a lot of time in London with James Underwood, who sadly died this year, helping with his weekly Digest and learning about pedigrees. Finally, I ought. to mention Kevin Needham, who taught me all about shipping horses and has always been a good friend and a great help."

Now that Rampal's business is established, the obvious issue he may encounter is the size of the marketplace in India: are there enough horses to provide him with a full-time career, and does he find it a problem that the country's best horses are all in the hands of just a few owners?

"The winter breeding stock sales are fixed in my diary" Rampal at the December Sales at Tattersalls, 2022 

"In any business there are tough. days as well as happy days, but I am very lucky to have some wonderful clients now, some of whom have been with me for quite some time," Rampal says. "My prominent clients are Mr Shyam Ruia, Mr Pathy, Mr Dhunjibhoy, Mr Prashant Nagar, Usha Stud, Dashmesh Stud and Poonawalla Stud Farms. I help them. when it comes to selling yearlings and with buying stallions, and with all aspects of bloodstock in between.

"In a broader sense, the big challenge for racing in India as a whole is that the government is not supportive at all," he continues. "There are funding issues and racing has shrunk, post-Covid. It's only thanks to a handful of large players holding their position that it has been sustainable at all in recent years."

Those funding issues come from the ongoing problem that India's current government considers racing to be a form of gambling, rather than a sport, so the tax treatment is not favourable. The knock-on effects can be measured in a dwindling demand for racehorses and thus a reduced number of mares being exported from Europe to India. "As a nation, we imported perhaps 75 thoroughbred mares from England and Ireland last year," says Rampal. "Compare that to the peak of perhaps ten years ago, when we imported 200 or 250 mares annually."

That said, he is keen to show a balanced view of Indian racing and breeding. Despite the issues he mentions, the appetites of the larger owner-breeders like Dr Poonawalla show no sign of fading, and naturally Rampal is happy to be in demand and not only as an agent.

In a broader sense, the big challenge for racing in India as a whole is that the government is not supportive at all. There are funding issues and racing has shrunk, post-Covid.

"I think of myself as a full-time bloodstock agent but I am also an auctioneer," he says. "It's not something that I ever planned, and my wife always calls me 'the accidental auctioneer'! In India, sales system is slightly different, in that there are five thoroughbred auctions, two of which are conducted by racecourses and three of which are private' auctions, where one stud farm hosts the sale and sells only its own stock.

"I didn't ever ask to become an auctioneer," he continues. "Rather, there were some commentators who were running the auctions, but the breeders weren't happy with the way they were just reading out the pedigrees and didn't describe or sell the horses very well. Some of the breeders came to me and said, 'why don't you give it a go? You've seen auctions all over the world!'

"From that unlikely start, I now do all five of the Indian thoroughbred auctions. I love doing it, and well-known European auctioneers like John O'Kelly and Nick Nugent have given me a lot of advice. As an auctioneer, you get a serious buzz out of selling and it's a great feeling when it's going well.

"No matter what business you're in, if you're selling a product then you have to know that product well. I make sure I spend a lot of time looking at every horse I am being trusted to sell, so I can get to know them as individuals. I'm also lucky that I know the buying audience in India well, too so I know what each buyer does and doesn't like, and I have a rapport with them.

"The problem with bloodstock auctions in India is that it's not a mature market," Rampal continues. "There was a real problem with horses being run up to the reserve and then being bought back in: people thought the auctioneers were taking bids out of thin air, so they stopped bidding, with an eye on buying privately instead, outside the ring. To overcome that, we now do something unusual: we declare each lot's reserve, in advance of the sale. I can't think of that happening anywhere else, but it's done wonders. Everyone knows that every bid is now a live, genuine bid, and buyers can be sure that they aren't being taken for a ride. I really insist on declared reserves now, when I am auctioneering, and I think it gives stability and certainty to the sale process."

Rampal is better known – over here in Europe at least - on the other side of the rostrum: "I have been coming to the December Sales in Newmarket for 15 years now," he says. "Last winter, as an example, I bought perhaps two dozen mares from Tattersalls and Goffs for my clients in India." However, with an eye on the future, he says that auctioneering will continue to keep him busy, even if overall it's only a small part of what he does. "It's a good platform and a good advertisement for my services, and conveniently the auction season is compressed into just one month of the year," he says. “I'd like to expand my bloodstock agency work, but it is a very limited market back home. The dream now is just to keep on doing a better and better job for my existing clients and share in their success."

We declare each lot's reserve, in advance of the sale. I can't think of that happening anywhere else, but it's done wonders. Everyone knows that every bid is now a live, genuine bid, and buyers can be sure that they aren't being taken for a ride.

Another string to his bow is an executive development programme for humans: 'equine-assisted learning, Rampal calls it, and it features interaction with horses to measure and upgrade emotional intelligence, creativity and people management skills in humans. In short, it's a kind of workplace training and team-building for senior executives and managers. Rampal and his partners are the first people to offer such a service in India, even though it is has been used. successfully in other countries.

"The science behind it is that the horse is an animal that will run for survival, and humans are predators so we hunt for survival," he explains. "It's a combination of prey and predator which shares a trusted bond, one which has been built up over thousands of years.

"It's only possible because horses are very perceptive and can detect and understand human emotions. If we are nervous, they are nervous and edgy. against us. In contrast, if we are confident, they are confident around us. And so what happens is that the programme exposes the true personality and strengths and weaknesses of the humans taking part."

Back to the here and now, though. In the short term, Rampal will being stock sales. "I come to Europe four or five times a year, and the winter breeding stock sales, including the December Sales in Newmarket, are fixed in my diary," he says. "Dr Poonawalla is one of the most important men in Indian racing and breeding, but has always been international in his outlook. I am sure he and I will be keeping an eye open for mares that might suit Chindit.

"As I said, my career in bloodstock started out working with the horses at Poonawalla Farms. Now Dr Poonawalla has entrusted me to buy a high-profile stallion prospect for him. It's a long way from where I started. I can't quite believe my luck - I am very blessed."

Courtesy - Bloodstock Notebook. Publisher - Milo Corbett