The Inside Story on India's Succession of Stallion Imports

It was announced on Wednesday that 1,574 of the world's best cricketers had registered their availability for the 2025 Indian Premier League, including a certain James Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker who, in a surprise move, has put himself in contention to play in the competition for the first time in his long and illustrious career at the age of 42.

In equine terms, imagine Dubawi (Ire), arguably the most influential British-based sire of his era, being volunteered to move on to another major racing jurisdiction because he's been deemed surplus to requirements by Darley as he prepares to turn 23 on the first of next year.

Now, we all know that that's never going to happen to our beloved Dubawi, but the management team at Darley–think Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key–were forced into making a tough decision with another member of their roster recently, namely Territories (Ire), who was put on the same flight Anderson will make early next year having been sold to continue his stallion career at Poonawalla Stud Farms in India.

It's been a common direction of travel in recent years when it comes to the next generation of stallion talent that Europe has to offer, both those who are already proven at the top level and those who haven't been given the opportunity to prove themselves at all.

Like Territories, the sire of three individual Group 1 winners, including this year's Prix Maurice de Gheest hero Lazzaat (Fr), Tasleet (GB) had already produced an elite performer in Bradsell (GB) when he was moved on to pastures new. He covered his first book of mares at Dr. Anhad Sidhu's Star Born Stud in Punjab earlier this year, before Bradsell bolstered his reputation with two further Group 1 wins in the Nunthorpe Stakes and Flying Five Stakes.

Then in the other corner you have horses like Asymmetric (Ire) and Mutasaabeq (GB), both of whom have been announced as new additions to the Indian stallion ranks for 2025, before their first European-conceived foals have even hit the ground.

The reaction from many breeders to this succession of exports has been similar to that of many English cricket fans when Anderson's enforced retirement from Test cricket was announced earlier this year. And, like so often on the cricketing field, it's India who have come out as the winners in the eyes of many–or so it may appear.

“In India, it's a bit crazy because these investments don't actually reflect the true health of the racing industry,” counters Gaurav Rampal, who is a leading bloodstock agent in India and did the deal to bring Mutasaabeq to Poonawalla, as well as being the Indian representative for Tattersalls.

He continues, “The commercial angle to these investments might not justify this euphoria, especially at the kind of levels that Territories and Mutasaabeq were bought, but then they were bought by the Poonawallas, a wealthy family. They are commercial breeders and it's a prestige business for them.

“Foal numbers in India are down and the big studs don't share their stallions. And the other thing is that you're going out of fashion very quickly if you're not firing in the first crop. That's why some of the farms are not shying away from having a back-up stallion in place well in advance.”

That last sentiment essentially sums up the approach of Surbirinder Singh Sidhu of Mebajeona Stud Farm and the Northern Lights Stallion Syndicate he's involved in, consisting of four farms who have joined forces to try and compete with the bigger operations.

Asymmetric, who won the G2 Richmond Stakes for Alan King as a two-year-old, is their latest addition to a roster which also features Cable Bay (Ire), the sire of Dragon Symbol (GB)–the first past the post in the 2021 edition of the G1 Commonwealth Cup–among others during his time at Highclere Stud in Britain.

“We have a syndicate of four partners, four different stud farms, who have teamed up together to find new stallions,” Sidhu says of the syndicate's methodology. “The reason we have teamed up together is so that we can support our stallions with adequate numbers for them to be able to compete well in the market. Before we were all buying individual horses and the numbers just weren't enough for the stallions to make a dent.”

He adds, “We're clear that we want to keep adding a stallion every two years, even if we hit upon success, so that we can continue to improve the gene pool that we have. We want to reach a situation where we're never short of a stallion who is not proven.

“That's how we're managing the whole thing and we're also in the process of improving our broodmare band. We are bringing in better mares every year to support these stallions and to improve the operations of all four farms that are involved.”

As for Territories, he is likely to cover between 50 and 60 mares with the crème de la crème of the Poonawalla broodmare band queueing up to visit him next year. That's according to Ajay Anne of New Approach Bloodstock, the man who brokered the deal to bring the son of Invincible Spirit (Ire) to India, as well as Tasleet.

“He will get the best that Mr. Poonawalla has,” Anne confirms. “He will get top-level mares so far as India is concerned and we've got a few top-class mares internationally as well. I bought [G3 City Of York Stakes winner] Nemoralia at Tattersalls last year and Mr. Poonawalla actually bought [G1 Fillies' Mile runner-up] September yesterday from Keeneland for $600,000. He's obviously on a mission to buy the best he can and enjoy his racing.”

Expanding on the decision to buy Territories, he adds, “I think we're looking for proven quality and there are not many stallions you can buy who are already performing at the top level. Mr. Poonawalla was very clear in his instructions that he's trying to buy these quality horse who could not be faulted–internationally and not just by Indian standards, as such. He's been in breeding for 40-odd years, so he knows exactly what he wants and what he has to pay for them.

“There were two stallions in India, Razeen and Placerville, who were like the Northern Dancer and the Mr Prospector of India. They used to rule Indian racing for a long time, but there hasn't been a superstar stallion in India for a while–I really hope that Territories is a superstar. He has the credentials anyway, so we'll find out if he is.”

Rampal concurs. He says, “For the last few years there hasn't been a dominant stallion or dominant farm in the country and that's another reason for the influx of these stallions because these big farms are looking for another good one.”

He also gives a positive mention to a former Aidan O'Brien trainee owned in partnership by Nanoli Stud and Equus Stud.

“Cougar Mountain is very encouraging,” he says. “He's had three crops of racing age and he's produced three Derby winners, so for me he is the hottest young stallion we have in the country. Interestingly, his first crop and his third crop were really small because at the beginning of the breeding season he ran into problems. Despite that he's got Group 1 horses in all three crops.”

Coming up with three Group 1 winners from his early crops wasn't enough to keep Territories in Britain, nor the performance of his yearlings in 2024, featuring a full-brother to the G3 Railway Stakes third Masseto (GB) who sold to Sumbe for 750,000gns at the Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

As for those breeders who sent mares to Asymmetric and Mutasaabeq this year, they suddenly find themselves in a very difficult position. It's a situation both Sidhu and Anne can sympathise with, whilst acknowledging the opportunities it provides for those overseas clients looking to recruit a young stallion with untapped potential.

“For us to buy a horse like Asymmetric off the track would be impossible,” says Sidhu. “It's great value for us, to have these top-performing horses who are untapped and who still haven't had a baby to race. They could turn out to be anything.

“But it's something that people who are invested in this industry in Europe have to be mindful of, because small breeders suddenly have a mare in foal to a stallion who has been exported to another country and they are left with a foal who is not going to make the kind of money that they thought they would.”

Anne adds, “I think it's a very commercial market in Europe and people are breeding for the sales ring and not for racing. If you actually sit back and think, 'what do you want in a stallion?', there are a lot of stallions there who could probably do well, but if they don't do well in the ring, they're out.

“That's when I think the opportunities are there for other countries to pick up those stallions. The likes of Tasleet and Prince Of Lir were doing pretty well, but they just weren't commercial enough for the European market. For us, they were the right type of stallions to buy at the right price.

“It's a vicious circle, but Territories stood for £10,000 and they could sell for 750,000gns. They could sell for 20,000gns or 30,000gns as well, but there are a lot of £10,000 stallions who don't make that kind of level.”

As for the economic pressures on home soil, the heady days of Razeen and Placerville are said to feel a long time ago if you're one of those people for whom Indian racing and bloodstock is your life, with the GST [Goods and Services Tax] imposed on bets placed in the country seemingly taking a heavy toll on its finances.

“We're not in a very healthy position and that's because the government has come down very heavily on the GST which is imposed on the face value of the bet,” Sidhu explains. “With that what happens is that 28% of the money is lost as soon as a person places a bet.

“The industry is trying to keep its head above water and there are a few good people who are supporting us, but the government needs to understand that the taxation is very heavy and they need to restructure it. If that can happen then this industry will grow because India is one of the most emerging markets in the world.”

“The government need to help,” Anne agrees. “If people can bet on sports such as cricket or football, and they're still considered as a sport, then I don't see why they look at racing as only a gambling product. We are participating in a sport as well and there's a lot of hard work that goes into breeding horses, selling them, training them and the whole lot. I think that is a message that the industry needs to put across to the world.

“The number of horses has probably halved in the last three or four years. It has changed in such a way that the demand is more than the supply, because the supply is not what it would have been five years ago. The foal numbers were between 1,800 and 2,000 in the good days of Indian racing, but now they're down to 800.

“It's a struggle and I hope that people in the right places make the right decisions and don't let our sport die.”