Be Safe will soon be regarded as the best horse to have raced on the Indian Turf - By Bob Sawhny
Posted on - 26 Jan 2015
Be Safe will soon be regarded as the best horse to have raced on the Indian Turf
By Bob Sawhny
Mumbai: I am an aficionado and experienced clairvoyant of horse racing in India which I have been closely associated with for about 50 years and I authoritatively say that, Be Safe is a phenomenal and impeccably bred thoroughbred, who is a machine and who is endowed with all the qualities of a super giant racehorse who possesses an excellent physique, very lovely temperament, high-class speed, breathtaking acceleration, a terrific turn of foot and admirable stamina. And when Be Safe competes in a high-speed fast run race he is akin to a pepped up F1 Ferrari who is racing against a bunch of 3-wheelers whom he zooms past in a jiffy. In the past, there have been some extremely classy thoroughbreds in the Indian Turf like Squanderer, Bright Hanover, Prince Pradeep, Red Rufus, Adler, Elusive Pimpernel, Storm Again, Indictment, Astonish, Royal Tern, Continual, Six Speed, Smart Chieftan and many more but none have shown the qualities of a highly classy thoroughbred like- Be Safe who presently has a very low Handicap Rating of 97, whereas the 5Yo filly Amazing Grace has a Handicap Rating of 134.
But, with the passage of time, Be Safe will surpass the Handicap Rating of Amazing Grace. That is because Be Safe will soon win both The McDowell Indian Derby (Gr.1) and The Indian Turf Invitation Cup (Gr.1) in a highly authoritative manner like a true Champion, who gets better with each victory. Plus, he will win many more high Class Million and Graded races. Furthermore, it is worth pointing out, that if any good race horse does not run in a competitive race or exercise sufficiently for more than about six months then that horse is very likely to run in a lackadaisical manner after a long lay-off but that is not the case with Be Safe who ran in The ABV Nucleus Indian 2000 Guineas (Gr.1) after a long gap of competitive racing. So much so, that innumerable aficionados of horse racing thought that something was severely wrong with Be Safe who in fact showed that he is a supercilious champion colt. And the champion Colt that he is, Be Safe on 4/1/2015 ran a prep race The 2000M Ramniwas Ramnarain Ruia Gold Cup (Gr.2) in which he shattered the course record clocking 2-1.08 prior to The McDowell Indian Derby (Gr.1) which is on 1/2/2015 which he will authoritatively win like a champion.
The present racing record of Be Safe (Holy Roman Emperor-Oriental Lady) is extremely creditable and he has run nine races, won eight and he ran 2nd on 23/2/2014 in The 1400M Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million (Gr.1) a race, which he should have easily have won, but unfortunately lost because of unwieldy circumstances. Be that as it may, his stylish victories were his maiden win on 27/10/2013 in Pune over 1000M by a widening 2-1/2L and on 29/12/2013 in Mumbai-The 1200M Zoroastrian Multi-Million in 1M-11.14s beating 2 good juveniles viz. Maisha & Shivalik Storm. Then, on 1/2/2014 he easily won The 1400M Kunigal Stud Breeders’ Produce Stakes (Gr.3). But, subsequently Be Safe unluckily lost by a neck, on 23/2/14 as the on-money favorite in The 1400M Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million (Gr.1). Thereafter, Be Safe was rested and after some easy work-outs in Bangalore, he literally trounced the opposition, whilst authoritatively winning The Nanoli Stud Juvenile Million (Gr.2) on 25th May 2014. Subsequently, the grand colt decimated the opposition in The Colts Championship Stakes (Grade 1) in Bangalore on June 22, 2014, effortlessly winning the elite race by a widening 7-3/4 Lengths from the worthy colt- Last Chance.
Subsequently, on July 13, 2014 on very soft going, with the penetrometer reading being as high as 5.8, Be Safe (Suraj Narredu up) cantered away to an extremely effortless victory in the 2000M Kingfisher Derby (Gr.1). Supreme Dominator and Connemara did the early running and showed the way to Tiger Tops and Be Safe. Suraj Narredu had nudged the favorite to take an advantageous 4th position on the rails and the colt was moving comfortably under him. Culebra, Bold Majesty and Alexandra Mills were holding their positions at the back. As the 12 horse field took the rising ground near the three furlong marker and finding the pace a bit slow for her liking, Zervan soon took Tiger Tops to the front. The filly led the bunch into the straight, but her dominance was short-lived as Suraj had brought Be Safe with a smooth run through the middle and asked him to go. The free striding colt responded immediately and he easily cantered away, to effortlessly win by a widening 5-1/4L, with the huge crowds cheering him lustily. Culebra rallied late under Srinath’s handling to take second spot ahead of a tired Tiger Tops 3rd and Bold Majesty 4th. Subsequently, despite running after a long gap of about five months Be Safe very confidently on 21/12/2014 ran The ABV Nucleus Indian 2000 Guineas (Gr.1) and very authoritatively won the Classic race by a widening 2-3/4L in a speedy time of 1-35.78s.
Pedigree wise, Be Safe from his Sire’s side, easily gets a mile, which he has stylishly shown and Be Safe from his Dam’s side, as given below, should get longer trips, as he authoritatively won the 2000M Kingfisher Derby (Gr.1) at Bangalore and derives immense stamina, from His Dam’s side. Be Safe is exquisitely bred and his Great ‘Sire’- Holy Roman Emperor (IRE) is by Danehll (USA) out of L’on Vite (USA) from the legendary Northern Dancer line.Winnings:7 Starts: 4 good wins & 2 places and he had a Career Earning of a lavish $764,836 which inc.won 1400m Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere/Grand Criterium (Fr-G1),won Phoenix Stakes.6f Ire-G1, 6f Railway St.(Ire-G2);2nd 7fNational St.(Ire-G1),2nd7f Dewhurst S.(GB-G1.). Brother to the classy Aus.10f Mare Milanova; half brother to high-class Japanese performer Big Viking, and smart German winner Heart Of Oak; dam is sister to D'Accord and Medaille D’Or Champion European 2YO and co-champion European 3YO.
His ‘Dam’ Oriental Lady is by Kings Best out of Otaiti (IRE). And although, his dam Oriental Lady did nothing significant, ‘His’ classy ‘Grand dam’-Otaiti-IRE (Sadlers Wells- Ode) had Career Earnings of $ 73, 957 which included 2000M Prix De Liancourt (Listed), Longchamp, France, 2000M Grand Prix De Compiegne (Listed), France and she came a good 2nd in 2700M Prix De Pomone (Gr.2), Deauville, France. Plus his ‘Dam’s Tail-Line’ is a very strong one, as it goes down to the likes Of Ode, a highly reputed stayer who had 4 very classy wins in FR, with Career Earnings of an enormous amount of $ 861, 820. Hence, Be Safe is well-bred and will stay distance trips.
And although, the brilliant bay colt Be Safe, has never traversed more than 2000M, his splendid style of winning the 2000M Kingfisher Derby (Gr.1) & his exquisite pedigree, especially from his ‘Dam’s’ side’, as stated above, show that the grand colt will get trips up to 2,400M. So, the McDowell Signature Indian Derby (Gr.1) & The Invitation Cup (Gr.1) seem well in the grasp of Be Safe who should win both these Gr.1 races over 2400M.
In my opinion and also in the opinion of his prodigious Owner, Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy - Be Safe is far superior than all the other Indian three-year-olds, and will win all the classic races in Mumbai, namely, The McDowell Signature Indian Derby (Gr.1) on 1/2/2015 & thereafter The Indian Turf Invitation Cup (Gr.1) on 1/3/2015.
(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the author's personal views.)
