Daily Blog: A Tutorial on Indian Racing

A highlight of my Sunday visit to Mahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai was getting to sit down with Anil Mukhi, an Indian-born bloodstock agent who relocated to North America 10 years ago and now runs Galaxy Bloodstock Services in Vancouver, British Columbia. Like many of you, I knew virtually nothing about Indian racing before coming here, and Mukhi was nice enough to show me around the track and introduce me to several high-profile members of the community. We chatted with Cyrus Madan, chairman of the Indian Pattern Committee; and Zavaray Poonawalla, chairman of the Royal Western India Turf Club and from one of the most influential families in India (both in and out of racing).

Mukhi seemed to know everyone there, from the stewards to the security personal in the paddock, and had an intelligent answer for the double-barreled barrage of questions I threw at him.

On a personal level, Mukhi started the day well. He had bought the dam of Holy Smoke (Ind) (Phoenix Tower), winner of the first race on the card, the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Multi-Million H. For a client, Mukhi selected the stakes-winning Little Treasure (Fr) (Night Shift) shortly after she RNA'd for $32,000 at the 2011 Keeneland November Sale. She was in foal to Pioneerof the Nile at the time, and the resulting produce, Athens (Ind), won last year's Bangalore Oaks here. Holy Smoke was her latest progeny. (The pedigree gained much more luster back in the States when More Chocolate, Little Treasure's 2009 produce by Malibu Moon, won the GII La Canada S. in 2013.)

Mukhi also brokered the deal to bring the Grade II winner Whatsthescript (Ire) to India a few years back. The son of Royal Applause (GB) began his stud career in California. Whatsthescript sired Serenita (Ind), the winner of the third race, the Gool S. Poonawalla S. (a local Group 3) going 1000 meters.

With roughly 80% of his business still coming from India, Mukhi was an ideal person to talk about racing and breeding here, and offered a comprehensive and nuanced view of a sport struggling to maintain relevancy in India's changing entertainment landscape.

Let's talk about some of the basics. How popular is racing in India?

For a long time, racing was the only game in town. There was no Premier League or international soccer. In the 1950s, racing was very big, and a sport like cricket was low level. Now cricket is everything, and there's little attention on racing.

How is racing organized in India? Is there something like the British Horseracing Authority that oversees the sport?

No, there is no equivalent of the BHA in India. Rather, there is a loose federation of six of the more important racing clubs, called the Joint Turf Authorities of India. This organization has no permanent location or staff–it moves from center to center by rotation each year. (Editor's Note: The Royal Western India Turf Club runs racing at Mahalaxmi, as well as at Pune Race Course.)

Talk, if you would, about the history of racing in India.

Indians have had a long connection with the horse, dating back a 1000 years ago when there were invasions from the Middle East. Everyone came on horseback, and horses became established in the country. It gave people the opportunity to become horsemen. People learned to ride, people made saddles and become farriers and so forth. When the British came here in the 1600s, they naturally wanted to have sport, and they brought in racing, polo, equestrian riding, and show jumping. But the Thoroughbred industry, more or less, started around 1920, and it was progressing rather well until 1947, when the country was divided into India and Pakistan. Almost half the breeding farms were in Pakistan, so the foal crop dropped by half. At the same time, there was a puritanical politician who said that gambling is bad for the new India, and they banned it. Lobbying took place and it took five years to solve that problem, and the foal crop dropped to maybe 200. There was a slow steady march and after a few years it got back to 500, and now it gets to 2,000 every few years. When it gets to 2000, that's too many horses here.

What is the annual foal crop here?

There are about 1,400 to 1,500 foals each year. There are only nine racetracks, and all that they can absorb is 1,400 to 1,500. We have 19 stallions, and there are 77 farms. It's a very broad-based industry here, in the sense that it's in the north, west, east and south.

So there are nine tracks—are some much more prominent than others?

Yes, some are minor. Delhi, for instance, would be a minor track, similar to a bush track in America. And all the races are right-handed, clockwise.

Is racing here strictly on the turf?

There is just turf racing. They tried a few times to have dirt racing, and it just wasn't very popular. There is a very limited “monsoon meeting” at Chennai (on India's Southeast Coast) that uses the track's dirt training track, but it's very narrow and they can only start seven horses.

On what days do they race when racing is at Mahalaxmi?

They race on Thursdays and Sundays. There are about 400 races a year here, and about 4,000 races a year in all of India. There are maybe 250 in Pune, and about 500-600 in Bangalore.

How are the tracks here?

They can be very hard on the horses. The tracks are pretty hard. We have this monsoon climate, where it rains like the devil from June to October, then not a drop from October to June. They water the tracks–they have to–but they still tend to be on the hard side. Today, they are calling it good going, but I would guess it's more firm.

Where do the horses go during the monsoon season?

The entire horse population, as well as the trainers and jockeys, go to Pune, which is 110 miles from here. It's across a mountain range, so they get far less rain than here. But in Bangalore, they more or less race year round. The weather's much better.

Any idea what the handle here is?

That's an interesting topic. Unfortunately, along with the British came bookmaking, and the bookmakers take the cream of the betting money here. They engage in a lot of illegal betting. They have codes, so if you say you are betting 100 rupees, you are actually betting 1,000. And they waive the betting tax on the rest. The result is that the official handle is nowhere near the actual handle. The race clubs are in dire straights, because they don't get their fair share. If there was a tote monopoly, as you have in the U.S., Japan and Singapore–all healthy racing countries in terms of prize money–if you could have that here, it would be really magnificent.

Why don't they do it?

The government here wants to turn this racecourse into a park, and they don't want racing to be successful. They want to bleed it to death by putting a high betting tax on it, and the takeout is so high that you don't get a decent return. It's not a stated aim, I don't have any evidence for this, but that's the way it seems to me.

What is the takeout?

On win and place, the tax alone is 20%, and the takeout is probably 27% (cumulative). And when it comes to the pools like Jackpot (similar to a Pick 5), it is closer to 50%. Win and place are the most popular bets. But each Indian state sets its own betting tax, and what I quoted you was for here. If you go to Bangalore, the betting tax is something like 4%. So they're able to give a much bigger dividend, and therefore each race day probably turns over something like $1 million. It's significant. But here, it won't be more than $100,000. But there's very little transparency and the numbers can be hard to come by.

Let's talk about breeding. Has the Indian program improved? Remained level?

The quality has improved tremendously. We have a system called import licensing. You can't just by a horse and bring it here. You have to get a license. There used to be upper limits, so you had to spend only 5,000 pounds to buy a horse or a stallion. What kind of horse do you buy for 5,000 pounds? But they relaxed that in 1995, and now you can buy a horse at any value. But you still have to have a license, and it takes about three months to get one…for each horse you buy. You can't make an impulse purchase.

All horses that race here have to be Indian-breds, correct?

Yes, they won't let you race horses from abroad. You can only bring broodmares and stallions. And the horses have to be stabled at the track to run at the track, except for the big races. So 90% of the races are closed to horses not at the track. If an owner spots an opportunity elsewhere, you can't take advantage of it.

Have Indian horses raced abroad?

They have, but the logistical problems are tremendous. The European Union won't let Indian horses transit, and this has negatively impacted trade. The U.S. says, “please come.” The few Indian horses who have gone out have done well. There was a horse named Mystical (Ind) who won two races at the Dubai Carnival–he got a 117 by Timeform, and was a respectable group performer. He was by Alnasr Alwasheek (GB), a son of Sadler's Wells. We also had a horse named Saddle Up (Ind) who went to Singapore and Malaysia, and was a champion in Malaysia. He ran in the G1 Hong Kong Cup (in 2001), and was beaten only three lengths (in sixth) by the winner (Agnes Digital). Both those horses were five and six when they traveled and were past their best. We haven't had a horse go international after just a few starts, when they haven't gone through the wear and tear of training here.

How often will a horse race each year here?

Roughly eight times.

You helped bring Whatsthescript here. How many mares does he cover in an average year, and what's his stud fee?

He'll cover about 50 or 60 mares, but stallions here rarely cover outside mares. They breed mares owned by the farm. So if the farm has 60 mares, all 60 will go to the farm stallion, or if they have more than one stallion, will be split up. It doesn't matter if they don't match in terms of bloodlines or conformation. There is a small minority, maybe 5%, of people who are more adventurous, and who will send their mare to a neighbor's farm or a friend's farm. By and large, it's a negative way of doing things. You don't get the best out of every mare if you don't breed to the best stallion for her. And vice versa. If you have a champion stallion, some of the mares he's breeding might not be worthy of him.

Who are the best stallions here right now?

Phoenix Tower is one of the best. He's a Juddmone-bred horse by Chester House. Another good one is Burden of Proof (Ire). He's 24 years old and is a son of Fairy King. Aiden O'Brien trained him. He was a bit of an iron horse–he ran 32 times–and that's what you need here, very solid horses that can take the races.

How many horses will you import here each year for clients?

On a good year, it could be 20, 30, 40 horses. On a bad year, it might be a half-dozen.

Where do you like to buy?

I buy at Keeneland, Goffs, and Tattersalls.

Conformation-wise, is there a type of horse that works here better than another?

We don't want a horse that's too big–we'd rather have a horse that's small. We want a handy horse. Firstly, you get them cheaper in the States–they don't like small horses. But it also suits here better, because they're not putting so much weight on each leg as they're galloping. That's the kind of horse I look for. A 16.2, 16.3 horse would be a total misfit here.

What about pedigree lines–what's worked best?

We had a Mr. Prospector horse named Placerville who was a Juddmonte horse out of Classy Cathy, and who became a champion stallion (Editor's Note: Placerville won the G2 Prince of Wales's S. in 1992 over Urban Sea). We had another horse named Steinbeck who was a small Mr. Prospector, and he was very good, too. We have a Kitten's Joy son here named Dean's Kitten who has his first yearlings, and we'll see how they do.

In the States, there's the idea that owners are getting older, and it's hard to draw new blood into the sport.

It's like that here–very much so. One thing is that they don't have an auction to buy horses, and there's little transparency when it comes to selling horses. New owners think they'll be taken for a ride, and they often are by an unscrupulous trainer or agent. To get new owners is difficult, but not impossible. Every year a new owner does join the ranks.

What's your assessment of how racing is run here.

I can't say that the racing clubs have done a great job here. You can't operate by committee, which is what they do. You have to have a CEO and a marketing team who knows what they're doing, and you have to put them to work and let them expand the audience. The revenue will follow.

What's something that our readers should now about Indian racing?

Indian horsemen are very good, and they would love to send their horses abroad while they're still young horses and becoming what you'd call 'Rising Stars.' That's the kind of horse we need to export. Countries like Argentina and Chile have made a name for themselves in the States, because some of their really good horses have come to the States and done very well. I think India could make a name for itself in the same way.

To catch up on all of Lucas's Indian adventures from the past weekend click here