Veteran Trainer JS Dhariwal No More
Posted on - 09 Oct 2014
Veteran Trainer JS Dhariwal No More
By Mahendra Mallya
Every once in a while, life deals a cruel blow that keeps mankind rooted to the ground. Thursday morning brought in the disturbing news that trainer Jagjit Singh Dhariwal passed away at dawn. He was 70 and had been ailing for some time now.
Jaggy, as he was fondly referred to, was a soft natured gentleman and a pleasing personality - a man of class and a thoroughly dedicated horseman. In his passing away, the racing fraternity has lost a very knowledgeable and resourceful mate.
Jaggy had developed his bonding with the thoroughbreds during his school days. “The day I sat in the saddle at my uncle’s farm in Amritsar, I fell in love with horses instantly,” Jaggy had said. A chance meeting with the Maharani of Jaipur brought in the opportunity for Jaggy to associate with the Maharaja of Cooch Bihar who owned race horses in England. Jaggy soon started work under trainer Harvey Leader at Newmarket.
After his stint at Newmarket, Jaggy was back in India and started his career as a jockey doing his apprenticeship at Madras. He didn’t take too long to complete 40 winners and his high point as jockey came by when he won the Nilgiris Gold Cup at Ooty thrice. Due to his increasing weight issues, Jaggy turned his interest into training horses.
Post a six-month stint with trainer DM Thompson, Jaggy had his own string of horses. He didn’t take long to win the Champion-trainer title, taking on established trainers such as Sam Hill and DM Hill who were dominant professionals those days.
After racing closed down in Madras, Jaggy shifted base to Hyderabad and trained for prominent owners like S Rangarajan, S Pathy and Narsimha Reddy. He was champion trainer for several years at Hyderabad, during which period he won many Classics.
Jaggy soared even higher when Dr Vijay Mallya offered him to be his private trainer and Jaggy arrived in Mumbai in the 90s. He won the Indian Derby with Storm Again for Dr Mallya adding to his earlier success in the Indian Derby with Chaitanya Chakram.
Jaggy has won well over 50 Classics and has achieved the rare feat of leading in over 2000 winners with a limited string of horses, in a career spanning close to four decades. Among the several classic winners that he trained, Chaitanya Ratham, Chaitanya Charkam, Bonzer, Storm Again, Arabian Prince and Siachen were true champions of the turf. The last runner from Jaggy Dhariwal’s stables was Saltoro Ridge who returned a winner last Tuesday at Mysore.
Jaggy Dhariwal was a kind soul who never had a harsh word for anyone. A true gentleman of the turf has left us today. He is survived by his wife Judy, who dedicated herself in caring for him all through his ailing days.
R I P, Jaggy the entire racing fraternity shall miss you.
