To do and to die

The stage was all set. The script was written and sealed, and the actors had only to act out their parts in the next 24 hours.
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It was the penultimate day of the 1978-79 Mumbai racing season, and next day at the same venue Karl Umrigar would be awarded the Champion Jockey trophy, and at 18, he would be the youngest in the history of Indian racing to receive the honour.


One of the greatest jockeys ever, Karl Umrigar's young life was cut short in a racing accident

His success that season had been sensational, his 144 rides had figures that were just unbelievable: 54 wins, 33 seconds, 22 thirds and 17 fourth only 18 of them failing to finish in the frame!

When Karl Umrigar went out to ride Vasudha in what was only a three-horse field, he probably was not thinking about the trophy next day.

Minutes earlier, his staunch supporters had hammered down the price on Vasudha to make her the joint favourite with Dear Donna, trained by Rashid Byramji and ridden by ace rider Vasant Shinde, and now yet again Karl would have to do his best and produce the magic touch that his fans believed had a divine ring to it.

Unfortunately, the script changed suddenly, completely-and irreversibly. In what must be regarded as a freak accident for a three-horse field, Karl's horse Vasudha who was in full galloping flow abruptly stopped, and Karl was thrown off, landing on the track.

Worse, Vasudha then started galloping as suddenly as she had stopped, and stepped onto Karl who was lying motionless on the turf. Karl suffered severe multiple fractures and a few days later as a shocked world reeled at the news, succumbed to his injuries at the Breach Candy Hospital.

"I was commentating for that race," Dr Inder Sood, former race caller (who also doubled up as medical officer at times) of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) says, "I could not clearly see through my binoculars what exactly happened as this took place between the mile and the seven-furlong marker on the chute."

Dr Sood also remembers another accident during his commentating days when Jockey Robin Corner had a fall around the Mahalaxmi bend. "It was also a serious accident," he says, "but Robin was lucky to continue riding. His liver was torn, which had to be sewn up in an emergency operation."

Robin Corner managed to maintain his position as country's top rider even after the accident, however, Aslam Kader, perhaps the most popular rider in the history of Indian horse racing, could not do the same.

Kader suffered a collarbone fracture after he fell off a horse at the Pune track during a race. He tried riding again, but the experience turned out to be so painful, he had to call it a day.

In September 2004, Yogender Singh, winner of the champion apprentice rider award, met with a tragic accident at the Pune track which was so serious that he died two hours later.u00a0

Ironically, his elder brother Hanumant Singh, a rising star at the start of his career in the mid-1990s who had also won the Pune Derby astride a Dasrath Singh-trained horse named Grey Magic, had suffered a similarly serious accident at the same track and was disabled for a long time. Though Hanumant returned to racing after a protracted recovery, he had lost his champion touch forever.

Four months later, on January 23, 2005, K Kariappa, a top rider at Hyderabad was grievously injured when he fell off a horse named Millionaire. Ten days later his mother consented to a panel of doctors to take him off the life support system. He was only 24.

Sawai Singh Bhati from western India, the son of a syce (one whose work it is to groom or handle horses), was another promising jockey who lost his life in an accident at Mahalaxmi. However, it happened not in the actual race, but during the morning track work. Ironically, young Bhati also had won the champion apprentice award a year before.

"There are only three ways a jockey ends up after an accident," says Sherry Kapoor, a former jockey who now heads the Jockeys Association of India (JAI) as its President, in a matter-of-fact tone, "he either escapes unhurt, or gets mild or moderate injuries like bruises or minor fractures after recovering from which he resumes riding, or gets serious injuries that can end his career or life. We, at JAI, step in and do our best for the jockey and his family in the latter two situations."

Every jockey is insured for a sum of Rs 24 lakh. "There are two policies of Rs 12 lakh each," points out Kapoor, "so the total life insurance cover to each jockey is to the tune of Rs 24 lakh."
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Besides these policies, there is also a medi-claim cover of Rs 2 lakh foru00a0 the jockey and his immediate family (wife and kids), and also another Rs 1 lakh cover for the jockey's parents.

However, because of the high-risk nature of the profession, the premium on these policies is substantially higher. "That's where the race clubs step in," adds Kapoor, "only one of the Rs 12 lakh policy premium is paid by the jockey, the other is paid by the race club."

Though trained in how to minimise injury in case of a spill, most professional jockeys are aware of the perils of their sport. Yet, the adrenaline pumping in their veins in rhythm to thundering hooves is very strong and most, broken bones and all believe they ride on to live another day.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

The Matheran connection

Although riding ponies at Matheran is considered pleasure riding as it is mostly undertaken by tourists who may never have mounted horses earlier, the lads who offer their ponies for tourists are generally very good riders.
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Many Matheran boys, from Vasant Shinde to Ravi Biramne to Pramod Belose have become professional jockeys in western India over the years.

The most famous name from Matheran to enter the riding hall of fame was Vasant Shinde. "Shinde was in a class of his own," Pesi Shroff had once told me, "he was a true saddle artiste and a natural horseman."

Aslam Kader, one of the greatest Indian riders himself, used to touch hisu00a0 ears (Muslims do it when they wish to show great respect) when talking about Shinde.

"I call him Baba, and he calls me Bhai jaan," he had told me in an interview some years ago, "there has never been a rider like him, never will be. He used to toy with those imported riders (meaning foreigners) who came to ride here in Classic races."

Interestingly, Shinde was the first Matheran boy to win the Indian Derby, which he won more than once, but he was not the last.
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In what is termed in retrospect as a freak incident, another Matheran boy Pramod Belose astride a horse called Noble Eagle that was meant to set the pace for Zurbaran, overstayed his role to end up winning the Indian Derby in 2003 in a start-to-finish manner.

Safety tips
Wear protective gear
Ride slowly
Keep a ghodawallah next to you
Wear proper riding boots not chappals or open sandals
Be careful of low hanging branches
Be fully focused and sober when on horseback

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