Born in a upper middle class Parsi family Shroff began his career as jockey at the young age of 16 and licensed by RWITC in 1981. He won first race on “My Squaw “ and at the time of becoming trainer in 2004 his career win - record as a jockey crossed 1750 wins with more than 100 classic wins including  29 derby wins  ( out of which 8 Indian derbies and 21 other centre derbies ). P Shroff won 7 Invitation Cup races and two Sprinter Cup races. 

PUNTERS TRUSTED JOCKEY : 

    Punters are more convinced about him and that’s why always trusted him, there is one who could do no wrong. Shroff was an instant success with punters who believed they got a run for their money. It takes lot of hard work and dedication to built such a image and reputation. Many use to call him gentleman jockey. 

     Shroff married to Karl Umrigar’s sister and his childhood sweetheart Tina and has two children Yohan and Anya. Despite his tall height, he maintained his riding weight between 51–55 kgs . He known for his cool temperament and soft spoken nature. He was not a natural rider as Vasant Shinde but he makes up analysing and understanding his mounts well. He always believed in his own judgement. He explains — I stood up for what I thought was right. Now with my success people listen. He fully endorsed the view that “ to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly”.  In top races like Indian derby and Invitation Cup he rode mainly for trainers  — B Chenoy, Imtiaz Sait, Altaf Hussain, R R Byramji, J S Dhariwal, S Singh, Darius Byramji and S S Shah and won races for them. 

RETAINED BY VIJAY MALLYA: 

P Shroff retained by liquor baron Vijay Mallya for several years. His riding talent and temperament impressed VM a lot. Shroff also rode for big owners like MAM Ramaswamy, D Khaitan , Poonawallas and K Dhunjibhoy. He tops the list of jockeys who won maximum number of Indian Derbies and Invitation Cup  races (15).  His successes are something that other jockeys can only dream of. His other Indian derby winners are — Enterprising (1984), Revelation (1985), Littleover  (1994), Storm Again (2001) and Psychic Flame (2004).  His invitation cup race winners are — Revelation (1985), Amorous Knight (1986), Exhilaration 1989), Desert Warrior (1990), Bugs Bunny (1992), Adler (1993) and Storm Again (2001).  His Sprinter Cup winners are — Ricardo and Albertini. He won few top races for Bezan Chinoy, out of his three Indian derbies and only Invitation Cup,  Shroff rode two Indian derbies and the only Invitation Cup winner for him and for C D Katrak ( trainer of Moonlight Romance, Venus Arising, Oasis Star and Indiscretion ) Shroff rode a Indian 2000 guineas winner Vesuvius in 2000. He rode few other winners for these two trainers.

   P Shroff won several races for his owner and retainer Vijay Mallya under R R Byramji’s training. The list consists of  names like —  City Girl  won Hyderabad fillies and 1000 guineas and Mysore 1000 Guineaas in 1990. With Delage Hyderabad colts trial stakes in 1990. With Scaglieti Golconda Oaks in 1991. With Bugs Bunny Bangaluru derby in 1991 and in 1992 and Invitation cup race and Bangaluru Oaks also in 1992. With Boodles South India 2000 Guineaas in 1991. With Summer Dust Bangaluru fillies and 2000 Guineaas in 1992 and Bangaluru derby and Oaks in 1993. With Adler Invitation cup in 1993. With Littleover Bangaluru derby, fillies, 1000 Guineaas and Oaks in 1993 and Invitation cup race in 1994. With Maxmillion Indian derby and Bangaluru St leger in 1994. With Cape Star Bangaluru Oaks in 1995. With Accomplish South India St leger in 1995. With Kariba Kolkata 1000 Guineaas in 1995. With Traffic Police South India Oaks in 1996. With Crown Treasure Mysore derby and 2000 Guineaas and  Golconda 1000 Guineaas in 1996. With Cape Knight Golconda St leger in 1996. With Sea Gazer South India 1000 Guineaas in 1996. With Continual Indian 2000 guineas, Mysore derby and 2000 Guineaas. With Allocated Bangaluru Colts and Hyderabad Colts in 2000. 

CLASSICAL ACT’s  STUNNING PERFORMANCE: 

P Shroff won Pune derby for S S Shah on Amorous Knight in 1985 and for Bezan Chenoy on Capricorn in 1986.  He won Bangaluru derby for trainer J S Dhariwal on Classical Act in 1992 and for trainer S Singh on Fantabulous King in 2004.  

  But Classical Act overcame the lack of racing experience by a stunning display that captured him as the highest rated three year old that time. Classical Act became the first Indian colt to win a derby straightaway after winning a maiden race and he thus emulated ‘Lammatara’ who had won the Epsom Derby likewise.  Classical Act unleashed a terrific run in the homestretch that left everybody in the race flat-footed.  CA sensational performance turned the derby a non-contest. P Shroff’s win at Pune derby on another J S Dhariwal trained colt Sky Rider in 2002 will also be remembered for long for its super exciting finish. For Zadmal Singh he won Stayer’s Cup on Tiger Lily in the year 1989. 

   His win in The Indian 1000 Guineaas on Snow for Bezan Chinoy in 1983 will be remembered for the slow run pace, in early stages the pace was just like horses walking but slowly gained speed and Shroff worked hard to outpace caminetto in last 100 mts to win the race in a three horse field.  I too  witnessed many of Shroff’s rides and remember some of his wins on — Amorous Knight, Exhilaration, Sikander -E -Azam, Sir Dickson, Adler, Scaglieti, Boodles, Bonzer,  and Littleover. His retainer Vijay Mallya won many big and classic races with other jockeys too,  which I am not mentioning here. 

A WIN FOR SMALL OWNER AND TRAINER: 

P Shroff won a derby race for a small middle class owner and trainer at Hyderabad in 1990 on Sikander-E-Azam, Euplonious —Renanculas ( spelling to be checked )  trained by Shamshuddin (average bloodline horse purchased for Rs 69,000/- from Gokuldas of Sewania stud farms) and owned by  late P Pentaiah . It was owners first and last classic and derby win and for trainer it was his racing career’s first classic win . Sikander-E-Azam won two classic races for trainer Shamshuddin,  one derby with P Shroff in the saddle and another St leger race with D Netto in the saddle. 

SADDLE UP WON MANY RACES AND RATED BEST EVER INDIAN HORSE : 

One of Vijay Mallya’s top horse was saddle up trained by Imtiaz Sait won many races  including Invitation cup race of 1999 but later the race was taken away for drug positive reason and Saddle Up disqualified. He won Bangaluru St leger  in 1999 with P  Shroff in the saddle on objection against Running Flame who drifted and took his ground and hampered the running in final furlong . Saddle Up won ten races including Bangaluru derby and 2000 Guineaas. He crowned All Asian Champion for capturing classic race at Malaysia when he beat his 10 rivals to win Cl I 2000 mts race. He won a historic win Tunku Gold Cup and went on to win few other races at Singapore. With this performance of Saddle Up, Indian racing got good recognition in world racing too. 

TURF WAR SPARKS ON SHROFF’s SUSPENSION: 

     P Shroff built lasting relationships in racing and not much indulged in any controversies.  But in 1996 one incident happened at Madras Race Cub in which P Shroff charged for reckless riding on his mount Sea Gazer and suspended for a period of 13 months. This suspension debated for long and opinions were divided among turf clubs too. The chairman of the appeal board, S Rangarajan part owner of the ‘Hindu’ news paper himself came in support of P Shroff openly and resigned in protest and criticised the suspension, terming as too harsh and disproportionate to the alleged offence. This  matter went upto Hon’ble High Court of Madras.  Earlier in 1992  also a incident happened when Shroff was not happy with a decision of suspension by RWITC and he  confronted with RWITC  stewards  - known as the infamous case of Knight N Day. According to insiders P Shroff made a victim of witch-hunt and things finally came to a head when he allegedly told to a reporter that “ The only fair about RWITC’s stewards is their skin”.  In few drug positive cases like one in 2011 on Bol denone and one in 2013 on Bulls eye Shroff fined or suspended.  But by and large he never involved in much controversies.  He took every setback into his stride and kept his focus on his job rather than distracted by the challenges fetched by his professional fame. He was liked and respected for his good conduct, behaviour and good relations. 

JOCKEYS BECAME TRAINERS: 

    Just when he was about to takeover his new assignment as a trainer in 2004 he said — “ I love the sport so much, I want to be associated with the sport in one way or the other, I had the option to take up racing administration but given the kind of scenario, with it’s conflicting pulls and pressures, I would have found myself out of place. As such, I have decided to take up license as a racehorse trainer. 

     Many jockeys became trainers but to win a Indian derby is remains their unfulfilled dream, or they  have to wait many years for a win for Indian Derby.  Few names of jockeys turned trainers who also won Indian Derbies are  — J S Dhariwal on Chaitanya Chakram in 1987 and again on Storm Again in 2001, Karan Singh ( many quoted as J H Foley also, so it is to be verified ) on Smart Chieftan in 2000, P Shroff himself as a trainer on Jacqueline in 2010 ( ridden by R Hughes). S Narredu on Super Storm in 2013 ( ridden by J Fortune ) and M Narredu on Be Safe in 2015 ( ridden by Suraj Narredu ). 

RARE DISTINCTION: 

     After becoming trainer P  Shroff has to wait for five years to win his first Indian derby under his trainer-ship on “Jacqueline” in 2010, who won four classic races for him. P Shroff won multiple times Indian 1000 guineas including Mariinsky, Myrlewood and Mrs Patmore. Mariinsky won at Bangaluru and Kolkata also. But his filly Mrs Patmore’s win in  Indian 1000 guineas in 2016 with P Trevor in the saddle will be remembered for long. She arrived with a scintillating burst of speed, scrapped through by a nose in a dramatic and breathtaking finish edging out Hall of farmer by a nose. 

     P Shroff is the only trainer who got the distinction of winning 1000 and more races as a jockey and as a trainer.  His 1000th winner as a trainer was Khartoum ridden by N S Parmar in 2018. He also holds a unique record in Indian 1000 guineas. He has won multiple times as both as jockey in 1983 and in 1984 and  in 2000 and as a trainer in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and in 2016.  Blue Ribbon won Indian Oaks for him in 2007 with N G Mc Cullagh in saddle and Roberta won in 2019 with P Trevor. He won more than 10 times individual trainers championships at Mumbai. He spends more time on track and at stables and works hard for his success. I will not elaborate further and more here on his achievements as a trainer,  baring some good memories, because the list is too long, but I rate him as a very good trainer. 

WHEN STABLEMATES OCCUPIED FIRST THREE PLACINGS : 

Smashing’s Indian Oaks win of 2012 in the hands of Anthony Crastus had provided P Shroff the unique distinction of saddling the winner, runner up and third placed horses,  all three from his same stable. 

INVITATION CUP WITH TERMIRITY IN RECORD TIME : 

  As a trainer P Shroff won a Invitation Cup race on Termirity in 2017 at Bangaluru with Neeraj Rawal in the saddle. Termirity overwhelmed favourite Hall of Famer before a huge crowd of 22,500 in a record time of 2 minutes 28.85 seconds eclipsing old record of Classic Style of 2 minutes 30.2 seconds of 1992. 

TWO DERBY RACES IN A FORTNIGHT: 

His two derby wins in 2013 within a period of two weeks from a colt named “Jeremiah” will also be remembered for long . First Deccan derby and than Pune derby, both wins within a fortnight .  He won Pune derby on Phenomenale in 2008 with C Rajendra in the saddle. Tiger Top’s Kolkata monsoon derby and Oaks win in 2014 and Indian Oaks win of 2015 and Sacred Roman’s stayers cup win of 2019 are some other notable ones under his trainer-ship. 

ADAM WON SPRINTER’s CUP IN RECORD TIME: 

The Hindu Sprinter Cup,  win Of Adam at Chennai at the age of 6 yr in 2016 will also be remembered for long as he won in record time of 1 minute 10.18 seconds with P Trevor in saddle, beating the existing record of Blue Horizon of 2005 clocking 1 minute 10.37 seconds. Trevor rode a brilliant race on this horse to win this prestigious event in last 100 mts for trainer P Shroff and for owner Vijay Mallya. Adam was available at the lurecative odds of 10/1 for win. In 2017 too Adam at the age of 7 yr won Sprinter’s Cup held at Bangaluru. Adam  continued his winning streak even at the age of 8 yr and won a prestigious Kakatiya million race at Hyderabad. 

ATTILA WON TWO SPRINTER’s CUP: 

P Shroff trained another horse Attila won two Oasis Star Sprinter’s Cup, one in 2011 at Mumbai with I Chisty in the saddle and another in 2012 at Bangaluru with B Prakash in the saddle. Another horse Solomon won a sprinter’s for P Shroff with D K Aashish in the saddle. As a trainer Shroff won five Sprinter Cup races. 

ADJUDGED CHAMPION TRAINER: 

After winning the Sprinter’s Cup with Adam and Invitation Cup with Termirity in 2017 P Shroff adjudged the Champion Trainer at Indian Racing Awards Night, at Bangaluru. 

HIGHLY RATED COLT ADMIRALITY SUFFERED INJURIES : 

P Shroff’s one of the highly rated colt with classic potential injured in 2015 at Bangaluru summer,  while working on track and advised long rest, shattering the hopes of classic wins of connections. Before this mishap the colt won two races at Mumbai with utmost ease and taken to Bangaluru for summer classics. Before derby he ran in Karnataka Juvenile Million and gallops to a stunning win as a preparatory run for derby. He was rated as top favourite for Bangaluru summer derby but unfortunately the mishap attributed to quality of sand used and due to  the bad sieving process smashed all his classic prospects. He suffered tendon injuries due to maintenance of track and rain further effected the track repair work. That time in June 2015 many  horses received injuries on track. MAM’s ‘Meraki’ euthanised after injury. Padmanabhan’s Saladin and many other horses like Tree Lounge, Dawn of light, Ostwind, Miracle of love, Solomon and Qhayum suffered injuries. Many horses return to their home centres. Such incidents are very unfortunate in racing. 

    But despite all such adversities and unfortunate incidents, fascination for racing is unabated in our country.  If there is one sport in India which can rival cricket for its die-hard fans and enthusiasts, it is horse racing only. 

    Horse  race study and analysis offers more mental challenge and stimulation than any subject in the formal academic world. There are always scope for new things to learn and new areas to explore. With this I conclude my post, in which I believe many areas are uncovered and  many are still remained untouched by me. ( In a book or biography only it is possible to cover each and every incident or memories in detail ). However, I am confident my friends and colleagues on Horsetalk forum will further update the uncovered incidents and  memories of all of us, by covering and narrating their experiences and memories. 

Wishing you all tons of good luck with duwaas.