Mr. Vijay Mallya's penchant for horses is well known and the Kunigal Stud Farm bears testimony to his enduring passion. He is one of the most successful owners in India, having won over 500 races, including more than 100 Classic Races. Over the years, he has judiciously acquired stallions, fillies, foals and yearlings of the best bloodlines available. The farm has earned a reputation for breeding and rearing horses which win at the highest level of competition. The preference here is for quality horses with good confirmation and pedigree.

The farm, located 72 kilometres from Bangalore, is one of the foremost breeding farms in Southern India and is perhaps the oldest and biggest stud farm in India. Over the past seven years, it has bred or raised more than 200 winners. Of these, notable recent winners include Saddle Up, Sabre Dance, Astro Dance, Stately Don, Capitulate, Imperial Leader, Tempt Me Not, Symphony of Fire to name a few. Vijay Mallya's ace jockey Pesi Shroff has won him numerous victories. He is still in the circuit and hopes to win a lot more.

Vijay Mallya, the debonair and dashing business tycoon and Chairman of The UB Group, bought the stud farm eight years ago on lease from the Government of Karnataka and has developed it into one of the most modern commercial enterprises in India. His racing colours are white with a black V and a red cap. Horses sporting these colours have won all the major races in the country, including three successive Classic Indian Turf Invitation Cups. Mallya's favourite horses are Little Over, Star Fire Girl and Supervite. Adler was one of the best horses that Mr Mallya owned and it remained undefeated in all the eight starts in India. It was also the first Indian thoroughbred to win a race on American soil.

The Kunigal stud farm has developed state-of-the-art thoroughbred facilities to ensure the highest level of equine care and safety. This is the only way to guarantee their enduring success. The farm has around 75 mares (25 are imported and the rest are Indian Classic winners or Classic placed or bred in purple), 4 magnificent stallions, and more than 65 foals & yearlings. Its aim is to raise horses of exceptional beauty and temperament, thereby enhancing the performance potential needed to satisfy the highest standards of both the competitive owner and the leisure race-enthusiast.

The farm is ideally located with abundant water source and spans an area of about 475 acres. There are 35 rich, green paddocks of 10-12 acres each and multiple stable blocks. A sprinkler irrigation system keeps the fertile alluvial soil lush green, which allows for excellent pastures as well as fodder farming all year round. It provides the perfect balance of nutritional requirements for raising thoroughbreds to maximum potential. All young stock are raised naturally based on sound principles to withstand rigourous training.

The starting point in the horse-racing game is the place where the thoroughbred is born and nurtured - the stud farm. Horse breeding is a science, an intricate and difficult process. In fact, there is probably no other sport in the world where the endeavour to produce an athlete begins even before the athlete is actually conceived, which makes it one of the most advanced of its kind.

The thoroughbred is one of the most regal and magnificent creatures in the world with an exclusivity that makes it truly blue-blooded and a breed apart. To be labelled a thoroughbred, a horse's ancestry has to be traced back to one of three founding sires - The Byerley Turk (Ireland), The Darley Arabian (England) and The Godolphin Arabian (England), which lived in the 17th and 18th centuries. If a horse's bloodlines do not go back to the trio, it is simply not a thoroughbred.

Horse-racing in India has grown by leaps and bounds. In 1969, Indian stud farms produced 391 foals, which would eventually come up for sale two years later at the annual auction sales. In 1996, a total of 1,807 foals were registered. Moreover, stud farms are importing a host of stallions and mares each year and this has, over a period of time, bettered the quality of stock that comes up for sale. Descendants of some of the most illustrious equine families in the world of breeding are now represented here in India. Thus, you find offsprings of the legendary Northern Dancer, one of the greatest progenitors in the world, standing as stallions at farms in India. The Kunigal Stud Farm has a grandson of Northern Dancer called Burden of Proof.

Click here for the 'Famous Four' of the Kunigal Stud farm

J.Vinay

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