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The Indian Derby is run on the first Sunday of February over 2,400 meters. In racing parlance, those who win it attain nirvana. The equine superstars are short-listed by the cognoscenti six months prior. The year 2019 was a one-horse race, opined the pundits and punters alike. A grey colt called Sir Cecil, named after the legendary English trainer, Sir Henry Cecil, undefeated in its eight starts, will simply complete the formality, they said. Trained by Derby specialist S. Padmanabhan from Bangalore, the colt was in the best hands in the business. It belonged to a leading breeder from the Punjab whose grandfather was the first chief minister of that state. The colt’s rivals were a filly called Adjudicate and a colt named Star Superior. Good horses, but not capable of upsetting Sir Cecil’s applecart, the experts were unanimous.

 

 

 

 

Star Superior, bred at the Poonawalla Stud, appeared outstanding enough for the Poonawallas to buy back a majority share from its original purchasers. It would now run the Classics in the famous red colors. The first Classic for colts is the 2000 Guineas run over a mile or 1,600 meters, in the third week of December. Those connected with Sir Cecil let it be known that it was not coming to Bombay for this race and instead would run the Bangalore Guineas. As a result, Star Superior, who was aiming to run in the Bangalore Guineas, came to Bombay to win the Indian 2000 Guineas, an easy task, in the absence of Sir Cecil. At the last minute, however, Sir Cecil was brought to Bombay, in a clever ploy, to prevent Star Superior from going to Bangalore. To put it mildly, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla was not pleased; more so, as Padmanabhan happens to be Poonawalla’s leading trainer.
When the horses were paraded in the paddock for the 2000 Guineas, Sir Cecil with bandaged feet, and a leg looking suspiciously weak, shocked many. The odds on favorite looked vulnerable. Can the splendid looking Star Superior do it? the experts wondered. It was not to be. Sir Cecil won comfortably, making it look like a tea party. The wise old men nodded that if with these legs he can win so easily, the Derby was a cinch.
In the meanwhile, the filly Adjudicate, trained by Sir Henry Cecil’s stepson and Padmanabhan’s godchild J. E. McKeown, won the Calcutta Derby in a spectacular fashion. The timing wasn’t so great but it had proved its staying capability over 2,400 meters. A few weeks later, as a consolation prize, Star Superior won a graded race in Bombay over 2,000 meters easily. However, the railbirds were not too sure whether Star Superior could ‘stay’ over that critical extra 400 meters of the Derby distance. From his pedigree, it appeared doubtful. There were no such doubts regarding Sir Cecil over 2,400. But trouble had started brewing in Sir Cecil’s paradise.
For weeks, he was not to be seen on the track in Bangalore. The connections dismissed his problems as "niggling.” He won’t run the Derby, said the cynics. His leg was really acting up. Nonsense, said the owner and trainer, he will win. Sure enough, Sir Cecil landed in Bombay and did some blazing track work. Be ready for the coronation. Pretenders, beware. Adjudicate may come near him, but Star Superior had no chance. One more obstacle was removed from Sir Cecil’s way when Pesi Shroff’s Indian Oaks winning filly, Roberta, was not permitted to run in the Derby on account of being unfit. Adjudicate too appeared out of sorts, after running a fever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poonawalla, the Sultan of Vaccines, continued to be hopeful. Star Superior can win the Derby, he told the Mumbai Mirror, considering that Sir Cecil and Adjudicate were not fully fit. Without fitness, even god cannot win the Derby. Poonawalla was supremely confident, having won the Derby last in 2002, that his horse can do it. The odds, though, were telling a different tale. Three to one for Adjudicate, seven to one for Star Superior and just 80 paise for the great Sir Cecil to win. In the paddock, Adjudicate looked listless and Sir Cecil was again heavily bandaged ostensibly to protect him. Star Superior though looked picture perfect. The next two minutes would decide the result of five years of hard work in bringing up a champion.
When the starter flagged off the 14 runners, as his wont, Sir Cecil was right in front. Star Superior tracked him. Adjudicate, who has great turn of foot, would come from behind. In the last 400 meters, Sir Cecil began to falter. Star Superior accelerated in style to go past him. The filly too passed the great horse who failed in his ultimate test and returned lame. Star Superior easily won the Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby 2019. Poonawalla was more than vindicated. Of course, it was a team effort of the master breeder, his brother Zavaray Poonawalla and his daughter, Simone. On March 3, Star Superior was expected to be the favorite to win the Indian Invitation Cup in Hyderabad which decides the Champion Horse of the Year. Unless, of course, some dark horse smashes him. When Cyrus Poonawalla truly aspires, the opposition perspires and the universe conspires to give it to him.
Three weeks later, Cyrus Poonawalla’s filly Missing You, named to commemorate his late wife, Villoo won The Poonawalla Breeders’ Multimillion (juvenille derby) on February 24, 2019. Missing You trounced the favorite, Hunt for Gold, belonging to his brother Zavaray, among others. A visibly emotional Cyrus said that he was more happy winning this race than even the Indian Derby.