Major Pradeep K. Mehra remarked in 1991 that it was high time the Sprinters` Cup was re-named as the Common Land(GB) Cup. Including Klairon Gold who won the race twice, Major Mehra`s stallion had led the sires list for the race since its inception in 1979 with six winners till then. He was to sire one more winner and become the maternal grandsire of two others until this year.

Klairon Gold won the first Sprinters` Cup held at Hyderabad. The chestnut son of Common Land(GB) and Miss Goolangong(IRE) was bred at Usha Stud and could count successful stallion Right Ahead and broodmares Emotions and Regal Star among his siblings. He was in Class I while heading for Hyderabad from Mumbai in 1983.

Trainer Sandeep Mangalorkar was sure that the Ashok M. Khatau-owned horse`s early speed would see him through in the race. Wally Swinburn duly had him leading from start to finish winning in what was then a course record timing of 1 minute 13 1/5 seconds for 1,200 metres.

Klairon Gold later collided with the railings at the Pune race course. A metal angle ripped him from the chest till his hind legs and doctors gave up hopes of his survival. But he responded to treatment and won the 1984 Sprinters` Cup at Mumbai. He is the only horse even now to have won the race twice.

Time And Place, another offspring of Common Land(GB) like Klairon Gold, won the 1988 version of the race at Hyderabad. The chestnut filly`s dam Tick Tock was a half sister to two classic winners (check) and a classic winner in her own right.


Mr. and Mrs. S.C. Khatau, C.M. Khatau and Major Mehra owned Time And Place. She gave a hint of her chances at Hyderabad by winning the Sprinters` Trial Stakes over 1,200 metres at Bangalore in a record time of 1 minute 11.8 seconds. Travel can strain horses physically and mentally. Therefore trainer Zareer Darashah let Time And Place remain in the familiar surroundings of her stable at Bangalore and moved her to Hyderabad virtually in the last possible moment.

She obliged by hitting the front soon after the start and finishing eight lengths ahead of her nearest rival. But the reminders she got from Warren Singh and the race`s slowest ever timing of 1 minute 14 3/5 seconds she came up with took the edge out of the victory. Nine years after this Time And Place`s son Fire Arch went from Hyderabad to win the same race at Bangalore.

Escapade was the last winner of the race to be sired by Common Land (GB). Her dam Rose of Shiraz….

Bezan Chenoy trained Escapade for his wife Bakhtawar, sister-in-law Zeenia B. Lawyer and Dr. Vijay Mallya. Vasant Shinde, who was the most successful jockey in this race with three wins to his credit, added one more to his tally in 1993 at Hyderabad.

The filly overcame blood vessel and sweating problems to win.

The Sprinters` Cup and the Stayers` Cup held at Hyderabad in 1998 were won by the Padmanabhan-trained Lyrical Bid and Moment Of Glory respectively. Their victories vindicated the faith Padmanabhan`s assistant Mohandass had in them. Though his brother had died in Mysore on the day before their races, Mohandass remained in Hyderabad because of the two fillies and left later.

Lyrical Bid was originally aimed at major 1,600 metre events. As they tended to take too much out of her, efforts were made to improve her speed. Her aversion to the starting stalls also had to be eliminated and she had to be calmed down.

McCullagh kept her way behind as Successor and Char Bahar led the way. When Continental took over the lead, McCullagh produced Lyrical Bid on the outside to win by a short head.

Lyrical Bid`s dam Sovereign Maid had an undistinguished race record. But she was by Sovereign Silver(IRE), a sire of classic winners, out of Zifi, a Kokata (check spelling) 1,000 Guineas winner. Ajaad(USA), Lyrical Bid`s sire, was a Royal Ascot winner who hated firm going. As the Nureyev stallion`s trainer Sir Michael Stoute said in England, he, “had a serious engine. He just didn`t have the wheels.”

In 2003 pedigree experts found it difficult to figure out the kind of ‘engine` the Jhangianis` (check) Bryce Canyon had. They could not identify any sprinting elements in the pedigree of the 1,200 metre race`s winner. Their description of Bryce Canyon`s sire Serious Spender(USA) ranged from “ borderline classic” to “bit disappointing.”

Bryce Canyon`s dam Academic had won the 2,400 metre Indian Oaks at Mumbai. Her female line had produced other classic winners over distances ranging from 1,600 metres to 2,400 metres, going back to the venerable Marchetta.

The Poonawallas had retained a share in Bryce Canyon as most of their farms` clients were put off by his low pasterns. S.K. Sunderji trained him before Michael Eshwer took over. The gelding earned a high rating among sprinters at Bangalore. He won the Sprinters` Trail Stakes and went down fighting in a Grade III race despite a lay off before leaving for Hyderabad.

Eshwer was optimistic about Bryce Canyon`s chances there as he was a heavy animal whose fitness improved only race by race. He could be tuned up from the graded race onwards, with the three-week gap between this race and the Sprinters` Cup being sufficient for the purpose.

Bryce Canyon and his stablemate Days Of Glory dominated the country`s premier sprint for most of the way. A late bid by the favourite Palazzio went in vain with Bryce Canyon holding on to his lead.