Gandharvi Adds Case Clay To Its Team As Business Consultant

Amid the speed-filled tempo of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale this week, it's all about equine and human partnerships for Gandharvi Racing as they add Case Clay as a Business Consultant to their team.

Mind you, this isn't about making a splash or just putting together some haphazard deal. No, the intent behind this organization's latest move tunnels much deeper into the recesses of history.

As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was a racing stable. Like city-planning in the ancient world or otherwise, success just doesn't come easy. When it comes to competing in international racing circles, it takes a multipolar pivot across continents.

The underpinnings of such a capital venture were stabilized for Gandharvi founder Kuldeep Singh Rajput the moment he found out that he had deep family ties to racing's past in India.

“I have the horse racing and breeding bug, which was probably given to me by my great-grandparents, who were breeders,” said Rajput.

Though he is based in Boston, Massachusetts, Rajput is just such an internationalist. He built a successful career in biotech, and now he's parlaying his good business sense by carefully assembling a team with the intent to draw in more fans into the world of bloodstock and racing partnerships.

Gandharvi, which invested in its first horse in 2021, has aspirations to build a very strong broodmare band and has made no bones that it will focus its operations on developing fillies, which could yield a farm in the future. For now, the tailwinds are behind Rajput. Considering the current equine climate across the poles of this sport, holding your line in this game becomes a tall order for a solo yachtsman, but he isn't going alone.

To get there, the outfit's vessel is fitted with a strong frame of experience. Led by the Lexington, Kentucky-based Kiwi, Mick Wallace as their full-time Chief Operating Officer and Godolphin Flying Start grad Caitlin Smith, who anchors several of their operations from her base in Sydney, Australia, they are lending a hand in the growth department.

As the team assembled this week in Saratoga Springs, Gandharvi is expanding their roster by announcing Clay would be coming on as a blue chip adviser.

“I want Gandharvi to be around for the long term, and Case [Clay] will help us with that, beginning with the development of our five-year-plan,” said Rajput. “Also, he has relationships all over the world in this business and we respect that he will service them as well.”

With his diverse background, which was honed while working for his family at the fabled Three Chimneys Farm and even after it was sold to the Torrealba Family as their Chief Commercial Officer, Clay made the move last year to go out on his own as the principal of Case Clay Thoroughbred Management, LLC. For Gandharvi, part of Clay's specialty will be to focus on building toward the future.

“I'm excited about the opportunity to lend a hand to Gandharvi with their strategic plan and advice from a business standpoint. My current clients and business relationships are very important to me, so I'm glad that Kuldeep and I could arrange it so my current Case Clay Thoroughbred Management will run as business as usual, while still being able to help his organization in whatever way I can.”

With the addition of Clay, Gandharvi is continuing to pursue expanding global partnerships. Rajput himself has connections who regularly reach out with interest, but they might not have the foggiest how they can participate. He knows that if you make racing fun for everyone, including friends, family, etc., you can offer them a high-quality experience with both racing and breeding. Gandharvi will be searching for partnerships with the more well-established Thoroughbred operations to share in this journey.

They've already accrued progress along the way down under and in North America. In New Zealand, Ulanova (Santos {Aus}), a 2-year-old chestnut filly who won a Group 3 back in February at New Plymouth before running second in the G1 Sistema S. at Pukekohe Park, is continuing to make a name for herself. She is a finalist for the Champion 2-year-old category for New Zealand's Horse of the Year Awards.

The stable also established part-ownership in Australia's MG1SW Forbidden Love (All Too Hard {Aus}). Also of note, at the Magic Millions National Broodmare sale, Gandharvi purchased Nomothaj (Snitzel) for $1.1 million. The Listed winner has produced only one foal so far, a colt by Exceed And Excel, who sold at this year's Magic Millions National Yearling sale for $575,000.

When it comes to their North American activities, Gandharvi Racing bought into GI Breeders' Cup Sprint hero Aloha West (Hard Spun) through a partnership with Eclipse Thoroughbreds, and in conjunction with Michael Dubb, they campaigned GSW Battle Bling (Vancouver {Aus}). The stable made news last year when they purchased 18 yearlings during the Keeneland September sale for $7.605 million.

Back at the Saratoga Yearling Sale on Monday evening, in the spirit of budding partnerships, Gandharvi got on the board with Brook Smith's Rocket Ship Racing to land for $900,000 a filly by Constitution (hip 118).

“Gandharvi is all about bringing partners together and having fun racing,” said Rajput to TDN's Jessica Martini after the ticket was signed. “And I think it's a match made in heaven. We agreed on the same filly. It's all about partnerships and we are looking forward to it.”

Hopeful that North American success will come with a budding equine portfolio that will likely include a boutique broodmare band, Gandharvi will look to continue to add fillies and colts to race within a bevy of expanding partnerships. Now with Case Clay's assistance, the future is looking even more bright, but Gandharvi is always mindful that a racing stable isn't built in a day.

The post Gandharvi Adds Case Clay To Its Team As Business Consultant appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Australia: Winx Immortalized At Her Home Track Of Rosehill Gardens

Fillies and mares will be spotlighted this Friday night in Sydney against the backdrop of Australia's greatest ever mare – Winx — being immortalized in bronze at her home track Rosehill Gardens. The Group 1 Coolmore Classic heads a nine-race program at Rosehill which is available for livestream on the new Sky Racing World App and will be broadcast live on TVG (First Post: 8:35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. PT).

Sydney's “Autumn Carnival” moves to Rosehill for the next three weeks and, in advance of this Friday night's Coolmore Classic card, a magnificent statue of Winx has been unveiled and will greet racing fans directly inside the track's main entrance. The 1,500-pound monument to the racing legend and her regular rider, Hugh Bowman, is 110% of their actual size: literally “larger than life.”

Bowman was quite moved at the ceremony – on International Women's Day – crediting the “extraordinary detail and accuracy” captured by renowned sculptor Tanya Bartlett during her 14-month labor of love. Winx's part-owner, Debbie Kepitis, marveled how “it is so touching that every time I walk through the gates at Rosehill now I can say hello to Winx!” And the grand mare's trainer, Chris Waller, echoed his champion's lasting inspiration by saying, “Winx is proof that dreams can turn into reality in this sport.”

As Waller's base of operations, Rosehill was Winx's “home track.” However, she never contested a Coolmore Classic and the race remains one of the few gems on Australia's racing calendar to have eluded Waller. The New Zealand native, firmly ensconced as Sydney's premier trainer, will saddle Madam Rouge (18-1) and Subpoenaed (11-1) in this year's renewal, carded as the seventh race at 9:15 p.m. PT.

One of Waller's biggest obstacles to a first Coolmore success is 3-year-old filly Forbidden Love (5-1 favorite), a last-start G1 winner against her own age. The filly has already acquitted herself admirably against elders, finishing a close third at G1 level last October (the Australian racing season begins in August). Forbidden Love is also adept on all track conditions, which will stand her in good stead with rain forecast for the second half of this week in Sydney.

Second choice in early wagering is lightly-raced 4-year-old Chaillot (7-1), who finished only a head behind Forbidden Love in the aforementioned Group One last October and has a massive 21-pound weight swing in her favor under the two races' respective conditions. One query against Chaillot is her never having raced outside of Victoria – the Coolmore will be her first experience in Sydney's clockwise direction – but, on weights alone, she will take a power of beating.

A week that began by globally celebrating women's achievements could end with a G1 victory by an Australian mare named for an American woman who reached the pinnacle in her chosen field: Krone has won her last two races at 30-1 and 15-1, and is a 16-1 shot to make it a third straight stakes upset in the Coolmore Classic. Colonial Affair was similar odds (13-1) when Julie Krone became the first female rider to win a Triple Crown race. And Krone's crowning achievement, the 1993 Belmont Stakes, occurred in similar rainy conditions that are relished by her equine namesake Down Under.

Finally, in a week that featured International Women's Day, it's fitting to reflect on the career of last year's Coolmore Classic winner, Con Te Partiro. A graduate of the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the $130,000 purchase won races at Keeneland, Saratoga, and Royal Ascot when trained by Wesley Ward. She was subsequently acquired for $575,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November Sale by a partnership of U.S.-based SF Bloodstock and Australia's Newgate Farm, and Con Te Partiro transferred to Australia's “Queen of Racing,” Gai Waterhouse. After a G3 win, she was retired but failed to get into foal. Brought back into training, the mare won consecutive G1 races, beginning with the 2020 Coolmore Classic.

An incredible journey came full circle when Con Te Partiro returned to Kentucky and was offered at last November's Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale, although she was passed in after not meeting her reserve. The 7-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy has been privately purchased by Sheikh Fahad of Qatar Racing for $1.6 million, with plans for her to be served by a stallion in England.

The Rosehill card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (first post: 8:35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Gold Coast, Gosford and Ipswich. All races will be live-streamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World Appskyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpiresXpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWagerHPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Wrona's vast U.S. experience includes race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Wrona also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

The post Australia: Winx Immortalized At Her Home Track Of Rosehill Gardens appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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