Moonlight Romance - The Richest Racehorse in India - By Mahendra Mallya
Posted on - 12 Mar 2011
Moonlight Romance - The Richest Racehorse in India
By Mahendra Mallya
Moonlight Romance (China Visit – Wandering Star) just got elevated to the “Empress” status. After lining up an Indian Classic double with victories in the HDIL Indian Oaks and the McDowell Signature Indian Derby, Moonlight Romance recently won the HDIL Indian Turf Invitation Cup last Sunday. Add to this her Bangalore Derby crown and you have a filly that has trail of Classic conquests. Her amazing run of successes – 7 victories and three seconds from 10 starts – makes her the highest stake money earner in the history of Indian Racing, surpassing even the mighty filly Jacqueline. While Jacqueline earned a whopping Rs 3,25,98,101/-, Moonlight Romance grossed Rs 3,58,98,550/-.
Jacqueline quit racing and is currently travelling around the globe to establish her breeding credentials, ‘dating’ among the best suitors in the world. Moonlight Romance in all probability, will extend her career for the sheer reasons of her extreme fitness and gritty determination. She has proved that she is far superior to many big names in the country and her career has just blossomed. There are many big races to conquer and more glory to attain.
Moonlight Romance is owned by Mr Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, Mr Waryam Singh and Mr Prem Tharani, trained by veteran Cooji Katrak and bred at the Usha Stud Farm. The filly has provided many a historic moments to her connections and surely has endeared herself. Katrak in particular would be besotted with the filly for giving him the opportunity to lead in his first Indian Derby & Invitation Cup winner. These races are most sought after and the satisfaction of a victory in either of these races is sublime to the professionals.
Moonlight Romance came to Cooji Katrak’s yard in 2009 and her first assignment was a six furlong sprint. She was a hot favourite at about half-money which had Ceil Indienne at fours in the line up. Although Moonlight Romance won her debut race, Ceil Indienne gave her a run for her money ending just ¾ lengths away. With that victory Moonlight Romance opened her bank account with a humble credit of Rs 1,47,000/-.
Moonlight Romance again started as the overwhelming favourite in the Hello Million, her next assignment over seven furlongs this time. She however, was completely overwhelmed by her owner mate Star Future by a widening five and half lengths. That, however, did not deter the filly and she won her first graded race – The Forbes Juvenile Breeders’ Fillies Championship (Gr 3), thrashing her opponents mercilessly. Amouresque ended second a good seven and half lengths away and another 1 ¼ L behind was Xisca. This victory made her a millionaire!
Perhaps this was when Katrak realised her potential and Katrak was convinced she had to get into the Classic groove. He travelled with her to Bangalore to educate her for the bigger races and graduate into the Classic mould. Her first Grade 1 race came her way in her Bangalore campaign and here she met Siachen in the Fillies Trials Stakes. The local heroine called the shots and Moonlight Romance lost a hard fought battle by just one length to finish second.
The Kingfisher Bangalore Derby was her only other assignment in the garden city. She was taking on the local colt Sun Kingdom who had just won the Colts Trials and was touted as the best in the business at the centre. Moonlight Romance showed her mettle there and pulled off a sensational victory beating Sun Kingdom by just over a length. Xisca again followed her home a good 8 lengths behind. This was her first Grade 1 success and her bank account swelled by nearly Rs 8 million for this effort.
Moonlight Romance gave Pune a miss and started her Mumbai campaign with a thumping victory in the top class justifying the ridiculously low quote by the bookmakers. Weizhou, the shock winner of the Jain Sprinters’ Championship ran 2 ½ lengths behind her. She then encountered her arch-rival Siachen again in the Gitanjali Indian 1000 Guineas (Gr.1) and was humbled a second time by the Dr Mallya filly, the margin of victory identical to their last encounter – one length. This was the last occasion when Moonlight Romance let anyone beat her to the post.
The HDIL Indian Oaks (Grade 1) was a renewal of sorts to the Moonlight Romance that we know. She lifted her prowess notches higher and this is where she consolidated her supremacy. Richard Hughes powered her on to a solid victory and she had her revenge with Siachen who she beat over the longer distance comprehensively. En route, she pocketed another Rs 4.5 million!
The McDowell Signature Indian Derby saw a high profile line up. Her successful partner Richard Hughes preferred to desert her in pursuit of what he thought was a better option – Ocean And Beyond. David Allan reaped the benefit of Richard’s folly and Moonlight Romance confounded the great jockey’s judgement. She took off early in the straight and stormed home unmindful of the vigorous challenge mounting close behind. She tore through the wire sparing a length to Ocean And Beyond. Xisca, this time had narrowed the huge deficit between them to just two lengths. The richest race in the land, the McDowell Signature Indian Derby (Gr 1) had just added an astronomical amount of Rs 1,30,83,000/-!
The HDIL Indian Turf Invitation Cup (Gr 1) was her ultimate test. The Derby result was far too close for comfort and Moonlight Romance although having beaten the lot just weeks before, could not afford to be complacent. There was work to do, there was room for improvement. The expectations were higher so 
were the threats. A lot more was at stake than just the stake money. Richard Hughes realised his error in judgement and smartly reclaimed the right to partner her. Moonlight Romance happily forgave him and accepted him back. Together they were to create history!
Moonlight Romance displayed a rare presence of mind here and this makes her a true champion. Half way into the race, a serious incident occurred as Business Tycoon stumbled in front of her. In a spontaneous reflex action, Richard jerked the filly in an evasive effort to get out of harm’s way. Moonlight Romance showing amazing maturity and focus, carried on. Richard too did a great job of damage control and set off with the filly soon on turning for home. By the time they had reached half way down the straight, Moonlight Romance had conquered all the boys, however, Xisca was proving to be a tough customer. A grim battle ensued in the final furlong and Xisca provided a keen fight all the way. Nevertheless, Moonlight Romance, with the been-there-seen-that mindset, smothered the threat clinically and maintained her superiority over her lesser fancied rival. The celebrations were high and the crowds acknowledged her feat generously. Another Rs 60,00,000/- fell into her kitty taking her to the pinnacle of the top-grosser list. Moonlight Romance thus became the richest equine to have graced the turf!
The stakes in recent times have multiplied over the years. The next year’s Indian Derby Stakes promises to be even higher than this year’s edition. The winner of the McDowell Signature Indian Derby 2012 will most likely earn more than half of Moonlight Romance’s current bank balance. Moonlight Romance, thus will have to keep going, as she did in her last three races, to keep ahead as the country’s richest racehorse.
