Preamble

After the 1857 Uprising, the British Crown took the reins of administration in its own hands. In its early days, it administered the country from Calcutta while jute and indigo made that city the commercial hub of the country. Calcutta was also the racing Capital of India and the two most important races, the Viceroy's Cup and the King-Emperor's Cup, were run at Hastings in the shadow of Fort William. Slowly, things changed. The establishment of cotton mills in Bombay as it was then called and the opening of Suez Canal, backed by extensive trade in cotton, tobacco and spices, the western metropolis began to vie for the title 'Commercial Capital of India'. There was racing at Bombay and from the turn of the 19th century, western India owners -- notably Shrimant Pirajirao Ghatge, who raced as "R.R.S.", Mr. Mathradas Goculdas and his associates like Mr. Anandji Nanji, Mr. Sangidas Jesiram and others -- began to send their horses to Calcutta. Their earlier ventures were sporadic, more in the nature of testing the waters but soon they grew into a formidable force which reaped good rewards.

In 1911, the British officially shifted their capital from Calcutta to Delhi. The Bombay Stock Exchange, established in 1875, was flourishing and Bombay had earned the right to be called the 'Commercial Capital of India'. The final assault was on Calcutta's status as the racing Capital of India. To do that, Bombay needed to upgrade its racing and have a race to rival the Viceroy's Cup and the King-Emperor's Cup. It came with the establishment of Eclipse Stakes of India in 1924. The new race offered stakes of Rs. 1,00,000 which almost matched the combined stakes of the Viceroy's Cup and the King-Emperor's Cup.
 

First Runnings

The inaugural running of the race took place at Mahalakshmi on Saturday, 16 February 1924 The race was won by Mr. C N Wadia's imported mare Aquilegia* (ch 1919, White Eagle - Herb of Grace by Spearmint) by a length and a half from Boscombe with Rising Again a further three lengths away. The time clocked for the mile and a quarter trip was 2 mins. 6.2 secs. Alec Higgins saddled the winner who was ridden by R Jones. Aquilegia won five races in India earning nearly Rs. 90,000 in stakes and her Eclipse booty amounted to Rs. 70,000. She returned to England for stud duties.

That race was run on the old track at Mahalakshmi. Plans were already afoot for modifying the layout of the course and construction of new stands. Working on a war footing under the Club's Secretary Capt J E Hughes, the task was accomplished on schedule. The stands, modelled by Australian architect Theo Marks, on Sydney's Randwick course, catered for a capacity crowd of 40,000 spectators. The 1925 renewal, won by Melesigenes, took place on the new track and has been run ever since on it.

The Century

The race was held annually, usually in the month of January or February. For four years, from 1944 to 1947, it was run over a mile and a half but otherwise, the field has always been despatched from the Hornby Vellard Corner. The 2023 renewal was the 100th and it was conducted without any fanfare and no trumpets were blared. Perhaps, the concerned people were not even aware of the landmark or its significance. Had they been, they would at least have inserted the word 'Centennial' in the title of the race.

Where mortals failed, a little mare with a giant heart rose to the occasion and made amends. Juliette became the first horse to win the Eclipse Stakes of India thrice. Achieving the distinction on the 100th running of the race showed that Juliette had an unmatched sense of occasion.

Bits of History

A hundred years is a long time. Most of us don't even live that long. So it is difficult to encapsulate all the historical facts, anecdotes and stories in one small piece. Some of them, though, are recounted here.

By winning the race in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Juliette (gr f 2016 Musketier - Gimmesomesugar[USA]) achieved a unique distinction.She is the only mare to win the race more than once. Before her, eleven horses had won the Eclipse Stakes of India twice. The first to do so was the Aga Khan's Quincy* (dk b c 1922 Verwood - Quakeresse by Amphion) in 1926 and 1927. After Moss* had won the race 1928, Star of Italy* (br g 1925 Caligula* - Star-Belle by Sunstar), bred and owned by Sir Victor Sassoon, emulated Quincy by winning in 1929 and 1930. Star of Italy, who was invariably ridden by Clarke Hoyt, also won the Viceroy's Cup and the King-Emperor's Cup at Calcutta in those two years. He remained in training for long but sadly broke down in the running of 1936 Viceroy's Cup and was put down. Jockey C Hoyt was also astride Play On* (ch g 1930 Weissdorn - How's That by Pommern) who won the Eclipse in 1935 and 1936. Maharaja Pratapsinh Gaekwar of Baroda owned the Aga Khan bred Golden Fawn* (gr c 1937 Bahram - Mah Mahal by Gainsborough) whose two Eclipse wins came in 1942 and 1943. The second win came on the same day as Princess Beautiful's victory in the first ever Indian Derby. Both, Golden Fawn and Princess Beautiful were owned by Baroda and ridden by Edgar Britt. Golden Fawn, a three-parts brother to Aga Khan's record breaking Epsom Derby winner Mahmoud, was retired to Baroda Stud. He succumbed to a heat stroke in May 1943 and it said that all ice in the city of Baroda was rushed to Golden Fawn's stall. It proved to be of no avail.

The first Indian-bred horse to win the Eclipse Stakes of India was Balam. Mr. Chandulal Shah's Indian Derby winner vanquished his six imported rivals in 1950 quite easily and that victory gave his jockey Kheem Singh the distinction of becoming the first Indian rider to win the race. The following year, Balam had passed into the ownership of Mr. & Mrs. K M Modi though Kheem Singh and trainer A L J Talib continued their association with the horse in his second victory. Mr. G A Jasdanwalla's Brogue Royal* (b 1948 Windsor Slipper - Anne of England by William of Valence) did the double in 1953 and 1954, with Amir Ahmed piloting him in both the years after getting a leg up from trainer L W Marrable.

There were two doubles in the '60s and both were achieved by horses trained by S M Shah who lorded over that decade at Mahalakshmi. The first came through Ali Baba (1962 and 1963) and the second through the evergreen Bakhtawar (1967 and 1968). Royal Tern, owned by the Goculdases and trained by Bal Lagad triumphed in 1980 and 1981 while Great Investment's back to back triumphs straddled two millenniums, coming as they did in 2000 and 2001. The new millennium did not see a double till B Fifty Two did so in 2017 and 2018, the latter being a match with the Invitation Cup victress Temerity. A feature of Juliette's treble was that she increased her winning margin every year; one and three fourth of a length in 2021 being upped to four and a half lengths the next year and finishing off with a five and a quarter length romp last year.

Apart from these dozen horses who have won the Eclipse more than once, some very fine horses can be found in the Scroll of Honour. Parlakimedi's Rock of Gibraltar*, who went on to become a Hall of Fame stallion; Indian Derby winners Bright Hanovar -- he also holds the credit of carrying the heaviest weight, 63.5 kgs., to victory --Squanderer and Astonish (both Triple Crown winners), Elusive Pimpernel and Alaindair are some of them.

Trainers. The most successful trainers are S M Shah and R R Byramji with seven winners each. Shah's Magnificent Seven are Ali Baba (2), Rishikesh, Bakhtawar (2), Hard Held and Bright Hanovar. RRB's answer to that is provided by Firecrest, Nectar Queen, Track Star, Squanderer, Reflect, Albhabatum and Elusive Pimpernel. (I have seen it being mentioned at places that S M Shah has more Eclipse winners to his credit but I have not been able to locate them. Grateful to anyone who can provide more details).

Jockeys. C Hoyt (Star of Italy, twice and Play On, twice), Edgar Britt (Why, Steel Helmet and Golden Fawn twice), M Jagdish (Ali Baba, Bakhtawar, Nectar Queen and Track Star) and Aslam Kader (Astonish, Aroma, Great Investment and Radical Force) are on the top perch with four winners each.

Owners. Maharaja Hari Singhji of Jammu and Kashmir led in Pougatchev, One I Love, Steel Helmet and Desert Sunrise in his own colours That makes him the top owner if you disregard part ownerships. Almost every prominent owner of the last hundred years has seen his colours first past the post in the Eclipse; with one notable exception which everyone will find hard to guess. The late Dr. M A M Ramaswamy never won the Eclipse in his lifetime but Juliette carried his colours posthumously.

Miscellaneous

Fastest Time. Salazaar on 2 February 2020 clocked 1.59.90. It is the only instance of a time below 2 minutes.

Slowest Time. Hard Held on 21 February 1971 clocked 2.20.0

Longest Winning Margin. Thurendot won by 9 lengths in 1992.

Closest Finish. A Shd and a Shd separated Arctic Light, GoodFellas and Diablo in 1994.
Oldest Winner of the Race. Radio Man* was a 9YO when he won in 1946.

PAST THE POST

The Eclipse Stakes of India is a race for horses four years old and over including foreign horses. "Foreign Horses" is a red herring for we know that no foreign horses have thought it worth their while to come to India. Of late, the race has been run on the Indian Derby day or even before and that effectively rules out the participation of four year olds because till the Invitation Cup is over in early March, the four year olds have richer races in which to participate within their own age group.

In the last five years, only one four year old has run in the Eclipse Stakes of India. That being so, the conditions of the Eclipse should either be amended to five year olds and over or the race so scheduled that it interests the Classic crop.

Note. An asterisk after a horse's name (Radio Man*, for example) denotes an imported horse.