Trevor astride Zuccarelli romps home in Indian Derby

Jockey P Trevor blows a kiss at his daughter Dhanaria as he crosses the finish to win the Indian Derby at the Mahalaxmi racecourse yesterday

Zuccarelli, trained by Pesi Shroff, won the Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby (Gr 1) on Sunday at the Mahalaxmi racetrack. Zuccarelli carried the racing silks of KN Dhunjibhoy, who owns him in partnership with his son Zaheer, and friends DR Thacker, Mukul Sonawala and Adi Narielwala. Zuccarelli was bred at Nanoli stud farm.

Ace jockey P Trevor, who was yet to win the most coveted race in the Indian racing calendar despite winning championships for several seasons, finally did it in style when, just before passing the winning post, he looked back over his left shoulder to blow a kiss for his daughter, Dhanaria, who was watching the Derby live with family.

A special day

"This is a special day," he said after the race, "because my daughter came here for the first time, and she watched me winning my first Derby." For trainer Shroff, who had pitched in five runners in the Derby field, including the failed favourite Miracle and winner Zuccarelli, this was third Derby success as a trainer, which came rather quickly after having led in Immortality, winner of last year's Derby.

Trevor with his daughter at the prize distribution. Pic/RWITC

The jockey-turned-champion-trainer, who holds the record of winning the Derby eight times as a jockey, had to wait for 11 long years after saddling his first Derby winner, Jaqueline, in 2010. "I had picked Zuccarelli from Nanoli farm," trainer Shroff said in a post-race interview. "He impressed me as the best yearling at the farm at the time, and I had also trained his mother [Circle Of Bliss], so I had reason to expect a positive influence coming from the Western Aristocrat line."

‘Trainer's dream horse'

Zuccarelli is by Western Aristocrat out of Circle Of Bliss. Shroff was all praise for Zuccarelli. "He is a lovely horse. He eats well and sleeps well," he added. "He is a trainer's dream horse - he trains well and knows his job." "My knees went weak when Trevor made his move with two furlongs still to go," owner KN Dhunjibhoy confessed in a post-race chat.

"I was stressed and started shouting "wait, wait, not yet" as if the jockey would be able to hear me!" He added: "But once Trevor stormed into the lead with Zuccarelli, I started threw my fists into the air and cheered loudly." "When I saw Miracle [hot pre-race favourite] was finding it tough whereas my horse (Zuccarelli) was cruising," said winning jockey Trevor, "I knew I was going to win."