Horse's trainer S Padmanabhan on how the stud overcame numerous setbacks and created history
Horse's trainer S Padmanabhan on how the stud overcame numerous setbacks and created history THE chief architect of Becket's glorious triumph in the Invitation Cup last Sunday was neither his trainer nor his jockey, but owner Haresh Mehta.
"He is a very special horse," I had told Haresh when I chose him at Sohna stud farm.
But Becket showed signs of a back problem after he came to my stables in August 2008.
"I am sorry. We can't rush his debut," I told Haresh. "It's all right," he replied.
By December, Becket improved and a debut at Mahalaxmi seemed in order. But a day after arriving in Mumbai, Becket suffered a stress fracture. "Don't worry," Haresh consoled me, "such things happen."
After five months, Becket was ready for a Bangalore debut. On the way to the races, Becket reacted violently to the band playing close by, fell and injured himself.
Such bad luck was topped a week later by an injury to his hoof that resulted in a bad infection, which the foreign experts told me would put an end to his racing.
I thought of Swiss Bernard Duvernay, an excellent master farrier, the only man who could perhaps save Becket and his racing career.
"Go ahead and get him, whatever the cost," Haresh told me. Bernard did a fantastic job that saw him get back to work in just a week's time.
However, Becket had missed the entire 2009 Bangalore summer season, and finally, on the last day of September, we entered him in a non-descript maiden field which he thrashed by ten lengths.
In October, he crushed his rivals by eight lengths to win a Million, named after Sohna stud where he was bred.
The next logical target was the Bangalore 2000 Guineas, but he was diagnosed with cellulitis two days before the race and had to opt out.
Haresh moved heaven and earth to fly in a special equipment to massage the affected leg. With it, Becket's recovery was miraculous.
On New Year's day, he annihilated a class II field by six lengths, before winning the Bangalore Derby and landing at Mahalaxmi. Although he narrowly went down to the superb Jacqueline in the Derby, he struck back to humble her in the Invitation Cup last Sunday. That was the least he could have done for himself and Haresh who stood by him in every crisis.
