THIS DAY… THAT YEAR
THE 1988 INDIAN TURF INVITATION CUP
WON BY OWN BEAUTY

In 1986, Dr. M. A. M. Ramaswamy sold three promising fillies – Divine Light, Cordon Bleu and Stellar Role to Mr. Vijay Mallya. All three went on to win Classics, including the Indian Derby, for their new owner. This was a race Dr. Ramaswamy had set his heart on winning for a long time. With his arsenal depleted, he bought a filly later that year to add more firepower to his own Classic quest.

That filly was Own Beauty, who gave Dr. Ramaswamy his second Invitation Cup.

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]ntered for the 1986 R.W.I.T.C. Ltd. Auction Sale, Own Beauty arrived in Mumbai, was withdrawn and sold privately to trainer Khalander for his patron Mr. I. P. Trehan. Well-backed to make a winning debut in February at Bangalore, she ran well enough to place second to the joint favourite, Fond Appeal, lacking the speed of the winner over 1100 m. Exactly a month later, the stable backed her down to odds-on with a vengeance and Shafiq drove her forcefully to land the odds over 1400 m.

She then came out in the summer to take on Break Dance. The Darashah-trained colt was the fancied one for the race, but Own Beauty’s connections were fairly confident that they had weight in their favour. To further improve that advantage, the stable put up a 5 kg claimer – Islam – and backed the filly. Own Beauty led till close home, where the favourite ridden by Warren Singh, came with a good run and pipped her by a neck. Own Beauty’s jockey lodged an objection to have the verdict reversed, but to no avail. In her next start towards the end of the Bangalore Season, she was upped to 2000m, had Shafiq back in the saddle and scored effortlessly to win the V. G. Saravanam Memorial Cup. This time, she got the better of Darashah-trained and Warren Singh-ridden Magnificent Seven, who was as well-backed as the filly.

In Mysore, Own Beauty reeled off a hat-trick of wins comprising the Royal Tern Cup over 1400m, the T. V. Reddy Memorial Trophy over 1200m and then the H. H. Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Memorial Cup over a mile, all in the space of a month and well-backed each time. Having won over 2000m earlier in Bangalore, these victories over shorter distances were indicative of her class and entitled her to be tried in better company. Accordingly, she lined up for the Mysore Derby and ran a fine race, coming from way off the pace to finish a length-and-a-quarter second to the odds-on favourite, Brave Dancer. Sinclair Marshall over-carried a kg on her, which may have been crucial. Though it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Robin Corner, astride the winner, had something in hand. Own Beauty clearly had Classic pretensions and she passed into the ownership of Dr. Ramaswamy. Ironically, the former Dr. Ramaswamy-owned filly, Cordon Bleu, had her measure thrice in succession under three different jockeys – Shafiq, Warren Singh and Robin Corner. First, Shinde and Cordon Bleu proved superior by a neck in the Bangalore 1000 Guineas. This margin was extended to two-and-a-half lengths in the Bangalore 2000 Guineas, and then reduced to a length and three-quarters in the Arc de Triomphe. On all three occasions, Own Beauty was the first to make her move, only to be collared by the Riyahi filly, who proved to be superior. In between, Own Beauty had gone to Mumbai for the Indian Oaks where she finished a close fourth, within two lengths of the winner Bay Beauty, after having been prominent all the way. Cordon Bleu was retired to stud after winning the Indian Derby. But, the three colts who had finished behind her – Kir Royale and Brave Dancer – all went to Hyderabad the Invitation Cup. Hyderabad gets quite hot in March, and that was one of the reasons the dry-coated Cordon Bleu gave the race a miss. Cordon Bleu had beaten Own Beauty by a length and three-quarters in Bangalore, while in the Indian Derby, the grey filly had finished ahead of Enrico, Kir Royale and Brave Dancer by margins of one-and-a-quarter length, two lengths and a neck, respectively. The current form pointed towards Own Beauty having improved since she was beaten by Brave Dancer in the Mysore Derby, and she certainly had the credentials to figure in the shake up. So, it was surprising to see her go to the post at 10 to 1, despite her owner telling all and sundry that she had an outstanding chance.

OWN BEAUTY (L. Marshall up) flanked by Aris David (left) & Dr. M. A. M. Ramaswamy

There is hardly anyone more astute than Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy when it comes to assessing the chances of a runner in a big race, especially his own! He was dead right too, and all those who did not heed his advice, were to rue it later. Llyod Marshall hit the front as soon as the gates opened and he was never headed at any point. Coming into the straight, the other Ramaswamy runner, Guardian Angel, came within the hailing distance and then fell back as the filly kept on and stormed away to win by eight-and-half lengths, the longest winning margin in the history of the race. Behind her, the other nine runners were well strung out and went past the judge one by one.

Own Beauty raced just once after that, finishing mid-field while carrying the top-weight in the Karnataka Racehorse Owners’ Association Cup over a mile, during the Bangalore Summer Season. She was sent off to the Chettinad Stud. A good-looking golden chestnut, Own Beauty was medium sized and had a lovely, daisy-cutting action when at full stretch. Her first colt by Kristal Rock did not place. The next two by True Panache – Attracter and King’s Bounty – won 12 races between them, while the Foyer filly Sounds Sweet was a winner of three races. She was struck-off in December 1998, when her returns were not filed for two consecutive years. Sounds Sweet has returned to the Chettinad Stud as broodmare, and is the only surviving member of this family in India.

The Caspoggio mare La Santafiora came to India in 1981 in foal to Mannsfeld. She dropped a colt foal at the Pratap Stud, where she was initially boarded. While at Himmatnagar, she was once barren to Tudor Circle, while her colt by Storm died young. She then moved to the Jai-Govind Stud, where she produced Own Beauty and her full-brother Adam’s Glory. After that, she steadfastly refused to conceive till she died in May 1991. Adam’s Glory was pretty smart, a winner of seven races who placed second in the Ruia and fourth in the Pune Derby. Though the Thatch horse Thaumaturge wrought no miracles to live up to his name, he served the Jai-Govind Stud well. He remains the most successful stallion to have stood at that nursery during the last two decades or so that it has been in existence. None of the four mares that he covered in 1982 held, so Own Beauty should be counted as being from his first crop. That crop also had Volcan, a filly who ran in the colours of popular ghazal singer, Jagjit Singh. She finished second – ahead of Own Beauty – in the Indian Oaks and later won the Northumberland Trophy. Thaumaturge also sired the Stayers’ Classic winner Arctic Light; the Poonawalla Breeders’ Million winner Red Buttons; the Calcutta St. Leger winner Aayush; the useful stayer Anmol Preet; and Napolean, who was second in the Indian 2000 Guineas.

Taking after the Thatch side of his pedigree, his progeny exhibited certain qualities of maturing early. But, as they grew older, they tended to stay as one would expect from the Reg Hollingsworth-developed tail-female line.

Lt. Col. Govind Singh Shekhawat, Vr. C., who established the Jai-Govind Stud in Jaipur not far from the precincts of the 61 Cavalry, which he commanded, was blissfully enjoying his afternoon siesta, when Own Beauty won the Invitation Cup. When he died of a heart attack in 1998, his son, Digvijay Singh, a keen polo player, took over the management of the Jai-Govind Stud. His daughter is married to trainer M. P. Jodha.

This was the second Invitation Cup on the trot for jockey Lloyd Marshall. Apart from his win on Own Beauty, he won 11 Classics for Dr. M. A. M. Ramaswamy, astride Aristocracy, Red Satin, Zoom Zoom, Republican, Miss Minstrel, Woolver Valley and Dashing Groom. His finest moments in the saddle though came in his 14 Classic wins aboard Chaitanya Ratham and Chaitanya Chakram.

– An Extract from A Legacy of Champions
The Indian Turf Invitation Cup
By Srinivas Nargolkar

APRIL – MAY 2008