Sadakshara Padmanabhan who recently completed saddling 1000 winners is a person who has shown a high level of consistency. Excellence is about performing with unfailing regularity. And this is what Sadakshara Padmanabhan has been doing year after year. Significantly his 1000th winner for the trainer came through Hall of Famer who smashed the field in the Calcutta Derby Stakes.

More than the quantity, it is the quality of wins that defines Padmanabhan`s achievement. Nearly 18 percent of his winners have come in highly competitive Group races. And then 10 percent of the wins have been classics. This itself explains the exalted standards that Padmanabhan has set for himself. Competing at the highest level is not about merely winning but about preparation, courage, understanding and impeccable temperament. Padmanabhan exemplifies all these qualities.

Throughout his career, Padmanabhan focused more on big ones, sacrificing numbers while attempting difficult targets. Padmanabhan was a late starter to the classic scene, winning his first classic through Golden Fantasy in 1991 but once he took off the starting blocks, he has hit the high road. Right from the time the indomitable Rashid Byramji strode the Indian racing scene like a colossus, it was only Padmanabhan who could win his share of classic races from the limited stock that he had at his disposal. Padmanabhan is rated as one of the best trainers of all times in India. He has five Invitation Cup success which is the second best after Byramji. He has three Indian Derby wins and won Derbys at other centers several times. The trainer is four short of completing 100 classic winners. It was in the fitness of things that Bangalore Turf Club honored the trainer with a memento during the Bangalore Derby week. If nothing else, the act of reaching a milestone often serves to reveal a person`s true character.

Padmanabhan started with nothing. It was a big struggle as he had to make do with anything. It won`t be wrong to say that his stable resembled a mechanics workshop. Perhaps this start was also a blessing in disguise because when Padmanabhan began to train with better quality horses, he knew how to handle them, the problems they could face and how to extract better results by prolonging their racing career at a high level. To win an odd Derby is something anyone who is in the field can achieve over a period but to do it year after year is what separates the ordinary from the extraordinary.

Quite often adversity is what you need to become successful. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve and excel next time. Padmanabhan always aimed to buy a good pedigreed horse even if it meant sacrificing a few horses to get one. The transition from being an ordinary trainer to the top was easier because he believed in himself and his talent. The amazing strike rate, the unfailing ability to win classics with consistency characterized the trainer, Padmanabhan is now the sought-after trainer for big race horse owners in the country. The distinguishing trait of Padmanabhan is that he is not afraid of failure. He has taken bold moves which many would have thought were not prudent. He is the only trainer in India to have raced his wards at USA and Dubai. If success did not come his way, he was never deterred. He is not afraid of spending hard earned money in pursuit of his passion.

Padmanabhan gets the distinction of breeding some of the best horses to have graced the Indian turf. The all-conquering Desert God who holds the distinction of being the highest stakes earner in the history of Indian racing was bred by him. He had the courage to take the horse to race at England when he could have been easily encashing the form of the horse in India and gone on to win many races that were at the mercy of the champion horse. Padmanabhan`s abiding interest in breeding and his ability to follow international trends has helped him become a successful bloodstock agent as well. He was also responsible for the import of stallions like Mid-Town, Royal Kingdom, Dancing Forever and Western Aristocrat. He is thus a true all-rounder, well versed in all aspects of the sport.

Padmanabhan is not somebody who suffers fools easily. He is known to speak his mind in a field where flattery is rewarding. He is not obsessed to become a man of statistics, but rather try to become a man of value. He is endowed with fiercely independent will and creative imagination which have given him the power to choose, to respond and to challenge.

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Padmanabhan and Sharmila Padmanabhan along with James Mckeown leading in Borsalino after the smashing win of the colt in the Gr 1 Kingfisher Derby in Bangalore.

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Padmanabhan and Sharmila Padmanabhan leading in Desert God who enjoys the distinction of being the highest stakes earner in the history of Indian racing.

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Padmanabhan leading in Holding Court, winner of the Kingfisher Derby.

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Padmanabhan with In The Spotlight (Martin Dwyer up), winner of the Indian Turf Invitation Cup

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