Moselle in India

Tipperary Boutique’s facile win in a maidens race over seven furlongs in Britain on October 31 is cause for cheer for Alpha Stud Farm which imported the winner’s mare Moselle who was in foal to European Horse of the Year Dylan Thomas. Tipperary Boutique won in her second start. She is a half sister to Leitmotiv and is the fifth foal of Moselle (Mtoto).

Moselle who is currently housed at Kunigal Stud Farm in Karnataka has a yearling colt. Moselle was bought at last year’s Goff’s Pregnant Mares Sales by trainer S Padmanabhan who also has a bloodstock company called Radiant Bloodstock. Padmanabhan is a leading trainer in India, having won over 12 group races and 10 races worth a million in the last one year. Padmanabhan has also specialized in training horses conceived abroad and foaled in India. India’s Horse of the year Zurbaran who won the Gr 1 Indian Turf Invitation Cup in the past was one among the many top horses trained by Padmanabhan. The current three-year old sensation Becket (Hawk Wing) is also under his care.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The enduring charm of the Bangalore Derby

I never thought that I would become a full-time racing writer when I set out as a journalist in the year 1980. My passion for cricket was what drove me to become a sports journalist. If there are many converts like me in the field of horse racing, you can blame it on the enduring charm of the Derby. Most people come to the Derby because they hear so much about it. Many of them stay back and I was one of them.   The first time I attended any race day was the running of the 1984 Derby. Eddy Cracknell trained Lively Empery was one of the highest priced runners in the fray. The horse reportedly was for sale much before the Derby. Luckily for the trainer it remained unsold and the horse went on to win the Summer Derby as well as the Winter Derby in the hands of Alan Mercer. It won the Derby at odds of 100 to 1.   Legend has it that the current leading trainer Padmanabhan told one of his owners to buy the horse and that he would win the Derby with this horse. The owner was not too en
Read more

Rajan Bala, one of a rare kind

Image
One of the finest cricketer writers that India has seen, Rajan Bala, passed away in Bangalore on Friday (October 9) after brief illness. He was truly an inspirational journalist for a generation of sports writers in the country in a career spanning about four decades. I began my career as a sports journalist in Deccan Herald of which he was the Sports Editor. I worked under him later in Indian Express as well though at that time he was stationed in Chennai. He then moved to Mumbai and also had a stint with an eveninger. He returned to Bangalore in the last decade with the intention of retiring from active journalism and keep himself occupied by writing columns for newspapers. But he soon landed another job, this time as the Resident Editor of Bangalore edition of Asian Age and he made me write a column on horse racing. He later became a columnist for Bangalore Mirror and joined a TV company as a consultant editor and yet again, he made me participate in a panel discussion on horse rac
Read more

Villoo Poonawalla’s death leaves a void in racing

Villoo Poonawalla’s death last Tuesday has caused a big void in racing world. Being the wife of one of leading faces in Indian racing, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, she was easily the most recognizable person in horse racing at Pune and Mumbai. She was a great racing enthusiast and was instrumental in Dr Cyrus Poonawalla keeping a substantial number of horses to race in his colors. She also goaded Dr Poonawalla to buy quite a few got abroad horses for purpose of racing them in their colors. In fact, Phenomenale who won the Pune Derby two years ago, raced in her colors. India's best known nursery of thoroughbreds, the Poonawalla Stud Farm, is owned by the Poonawalla family. Having been an amateur rider herself in her younger days, Villoo had passion for racing and made it a point to be present at the racecourse to cheerfully lead in the winners owned by the family. She led in Change of Luck who won the Casino Royalel Indian St Leger in March earlier this year, with great delight. She express
Read more