Horse trainer S Padmanabhan no more

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S Padmanabhan, the Bangalore-based horse trainer who won over 100 Classics, passed away at Bangalore on Sunday. He was 71.

Despite being plagued by numerous health issues for several years, Padmanabhan had resumed plying his trade with a renewed vigour in April last year after a court order restored his training licence in a dispute with the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC).

Padmanabhan first made waves on the Mahalaxmi circuit in 1995 when he saddled Bollywood star Firoz Khan`s filly Winning Pretty in the Poonawalla Breeder`s Million, and also won the Indian 1000 Guineas (Gr 1) with her the same year. Two more Fillies, Running Flame (Indian 1000 Guineas & Indian Oaks) & Congratulations (Indian Oaks) added more Indian Classics to his tally in two successive years (1999-2000). For the dream of winning the Indian Derby, however, he had to wait until 2012 when In The Spotlight, sporting the colours of Mumbai horse owner Capt Jamshed Appu, vanquished her dozen rivals by 7 lengths. Four years later, with Desert God (2016) & Hall Of Famer (2017), Padmanabhan added two more Indian Derby victories to his illustrious list Classic conquests which included more than 200 graded races from over 1,000 wins and rightfully earned him the sobriquet of “Classics trainer”.

When this writer called him more than a week ago to get reaction on jockey Aslam Kader`s death, Padmanabhan was in a talkative mood, not giving any hint that he was actually undergoing dialysis at that very moment, a fact later revealed by a common friend. Strangely, he never coughed even once during that long call, but sources close to mid-day on Sunday revealed that suddenly this week he started coughing, was diagnosed for lung infection when shifted to hospital, and his health deteriorated rather alarmingly thereafter.

Padmanabhan leaves behind wife Sharmila. The funeral is scheduled for Monday.

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