Archive

His record, as a trainer of thoroughbred horses at race courses across the country, remains unmatched. So was his integrity. Honest, outspoken, passionate, committed, humble, loyal family man, compassionate, simple. Each of these adjectives applied throughout his long life.
Rashid Byramji may not have been a horse whisperer; however, the horse he trained knew what was expected of it. He was no expert on pedigree and did not pretend to be one to impress his clients, the horse owners. And the list of his clientele was most impressive.
He was at his peak when horse racing too was at its zenith in India (a far cry from today when the sport is at its nadir). To have one’s horse trained by Byramji was a singular honor. Royalty, Bollywood, industrialists and celebrities thronged his stables. His innate humility remained unaffected.
Haunted by wailing families of ruined gamblers, horse racing, some say, is a cursed sport. The stories of Byramji’s famed clients support this belief.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Vijay Mallya (a proclaimed economic offender and absconder fighting extradition from the UK to face multiple criminal proceedings in India), for whom Byramji won 83 classics, was mobbed like a film star every time he entered the paddock at the Mahalaxmi Race Course.
Then came Bollywood. Chandulal Shah, owner of Ranjit Studios, the then undisputed King of the Bombay film industry, won the Indian Derby twice with his legendary horses, Balam and Chakori. His partner, Daulat Hiroo’s dogs were led on chains made of silver when Shah came to watch trackwork in the morning. Both Hiroo and he lost everything on the stock market as well as at the race course. Shah later travelled by the local train and was seen walking up to Mahalaxmi, unable to afford a taxi. Hiroo took up employment as a racing official.
Byramji trained for the exceedingly handsome cinestar, Sanjay Khan, whose Prince Khartoum gave Byramji his first Indian Derby win in 1972. Satisfied with quick success, Khan and his Parsi wife, Zarine, wisely did not invest any further in horses. Decades later Sanjay (whose stud farm, Kunigal, had belonged to Mallya until very recently) nearly perished in a studio fire while shooting the TV serial, The Sword of Tipu Sultan.
Byramji scored several impressive wins for the textile magnate Sunit Khatau, in his "all-red” colors. A few years later, the textile industry became sick. The glory days of the Khataus, when ladies would go into a melee to purchase the latest Khatau voile sari, were over. Hitmen shot Khatau dead in broad daylight, not too far away from Mahalaxmi.
However, Byramji’s career reached its zenith with the dashing Ranjit Bhat who, with very few horses, won the Indian Derby thrice in succession (1976 — Comanche; 1977 — Squanderer, and 1978 — Manitou) and after a year again, in 1980, with Mohawk; a feat which is almost impossible to emulate for any owner or trainer. The charismatic Bhat is quoted in a book on Byramji by Major Srinivas Nargolkar (retd): 
"Ranjit Bhat once described what set Byramji apart from his contemporaries. ‘When you drive a car,’ he said, ‘if you hear a minor rattle, you tend to ignore it and don’t bother to get it fixed. This can then become a major problem. With Byramji, he listens for sounds of "rattles” from his horses and stops them till the problem resolves itself.’ That allowed the horse to reach its full potential.”
In his mid-50s, Bhat, 54, succumbed to cancer.
Deepak Khaitan, noted industrialist of the Williamson Magor/Mcleod Russel group in Calcutta which manufactures Eveready batteries, won two Indian Derbys under Byramji (Astronomic and Elusive Pimpernel). Khaitan too tragically passed away, rather young, after a spirited battle with cancer.
Byramji also briefly trained for the irrepressible baron of the turf, Dr M. A. M. Ramaswamy, the Raja of Chettinad. Soon the honest trainer realized that the ways of his client were very different, and stopped training. Ramaswamy, in his last years, battled his adopted son in the law courts. He died a lonely death in his impressive but empty palace in Madras. Not a single person was present when the Raja breathed his last on the portico of his palace, with heavy monsoon rain lashing.
Byramji began his career in 1956 and soon his clients included the Maharajas of Kutch and Kolhapur. When former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished the privy purses of the erstwhile rulers, royalty slowly faded away from the race tracks.
Sometime around 1890, Byramji’s grandfather, Rustomji, had migrated to Poona from nougat producing Gaz in Central Iran. He spawned four generations of champion horse trainers. Without the slightest doubt, Byramji was the most outstanding.
Byramji won 29 Indian classics (including 10 Indian Derbys), numerous regional Derbys, Invitation Cups and virtually every important race in the country over a career spanning 60 years. In a sport where corruption is no stranger, Byramji was like Caesar’s wife, beyond suspicion. Almost a saint, in an arena which is often worse than a bordello.
The green-eyed monster of jealousy dances often on the turf. Unable to digest Byramji’s phenomenal success as he continued to pocket championship after championship every year, the RWITC (Royal Western India Turf Club) stewards, then controlled by a racing satrap called Radha Sigtia (who used to hold daily durbars at the Cricket Club of India), imposed an artificial limit on the number of horses a trainer could train. Byramji had always maintained that if this was implemented he would oppose it on principle and move to Bangalore. Still miffed with Byramji’s unstoppable juggernaut, the RWITC stewards seized upon an interview given by the trainer to a magazine called Celebrity in which Byramji was alleged to have made an unkind remark about the stewards; they asked him to apologize. Byramji denied ever having made any such remark and refused to apologize. Western India nevertheless suspended him for three years during which his assistants had the dubious honor of saddling still more Derby winners trained by him. Byramji’s alleged offending remark was "The only thing fair about Western India stewards is the color of their skin.” Bombay’s loss became Bangalore’s gain. Sigtia too died soon, unmourned in London.
Byramji partnered legendary international and Indian jockeys including Lester Piggott, Vasant Shinde, Pesi Shroff and Aslam Kader.
Byramji’s favorite breeder was Major P. K. Mehra of Usha Stud, India’s premier racing establishment even today. The dashing Mehra bred a string of champions, until his helicopter crashed on New Year’s eve, instantly killing him, his wife and one of his three daughters.
Rashid’s father Rustomjee Byramji Jr, also a champion trainer, was a colorful character, both on and off the race course. When Rashid was barely 45 days old, his father was banned from training for life.
To be both a gentleman and a horse trainer is no easy task. Rashid did it with consummate ease.
Rashid, 88, who died on January 29, 2022 in Bangalore lost his devoted wife, Dolly, a few years ago. He is survived by his son, Darius, who has won the Indian Derby twice.