The first five stallions talked about contained four Indian-breds and one imported. The second lot is exactly the opposite, comprising as it does of four imported stallions and just one Indian-bred. Here are their brief sketches. ONE LUCKY DANE[USA] (b 2012 Lookin At Lucky - Echo Harbor by Boston Harbor) Standing at at Pratap Racecitement Stud, Parigi, Telangana 2 wins in U.S.A. at 2 and 3 from 6 starts (1600 m.) Only son of Lookin At Lucky in India Previous stallion at Pratap Racecitement: Stern Opinion. Off hand, one would say that the first breeding establishment in the Hyderabad area in independent India was H.H. The Prince of Berar's Andhra Pradesh Stud Farm which came into being in the 1960s. It has been followed by various start-stop ventures. Pratap Racecitement, founded by the prominent owner the late Mr. D. Pratap Chander Reddy -- Attractress, Vijay Damini, Machiavellianism, Tintinnabulation and Vijays Pride are some of the horses which carried his colours -- appears a different kind of proposition, being better organised and having greater resources. That is evident from the fact that its results have been markedly better than its predecessors. The grey Stern Opinion, a speedy sort, was just the right kind of stallion to get a new stud off the blocks. He has had had plenty of winners. He is now joined by One Lucky Dane, a miler. That's the right aptitude for Indian racing. One Lucky Dane won both his races at a mile and and gave a glimpse of his class when running second to stablemate Dortmund in the Santa Anita Derby, Gr.1. Their trainer, the renowned Bob Baffert, had a strong team for the Kentucky Derby that year and he headed for the Blue Grass country with American Pharoah, Dortmund and One Lucky Dane. Unfortunately, One Lucky Dane broke down after a preparatory gallop over 1000 m. and returned lame. A condylar fracture in his left fore was revealed, he was operated upon, two screws were inserted and that was the end of his racing career. One Lucky Dane's pedigree is a bit 'unorthodox' in that it is a bit short on readily recognizable names. His sire is a winner of five Gr.1 races including the Preakness Stakes and stands at Ashford Stud, Coolmore's American arm. His stud fee for 2019 was $ 20,000. Lookin At Lucky is bred on the Smart Strike-Danzig cross like Kunigal's Air Support. The tail female family is a typically running American family and features sires Sir Harry Lewis, Sir Richard Lewis, Cyrano and Sleek Gold fairly close up. One Lucky Dane never raced on turf and we have see how his progeny takes to grass. The stallion has 18 foals in his first crop and 29 in the second. Enough to show his calibre . PLANETAIRE[GB] (b 2011 Galileo - Occupandiste by Kaldoun) Standing at Sohna Stud, Sohna, Haryana 2 wins in France at 3 from 12 starts up to 4. (1800 m. very soft and 2000 m. good). Best Racing Post Rating 110. Other sons of Galileo in India: David Livingston[IRE], Roderic O’Connor[IRE], Ampere[FR] Recent stallions at Sohna Stud: Libor[USA], Conquering Hero[USA], Ontario[USA], Noverre[USA], Mull of Kintyre[USA] and Dean's Kitten[USA]. After Mr. Sultan Singh had moved his operation from Tohana to Sohna, all his stallions carried the suffix [USA]. His latest acquisition, Planetaire, breaks that sequence. Planetaire was bred and owned by the Wertheimer Brothers and trained at Chantilly by C. Laffon-Parias. He raced just once at 2. At 3, he started 8 times and won the Prix Pellas, L at Clairefontaine, on Cote Fleurie in Normandy. On his next start, he was a close third in La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte, Gr.3. The last of his three starts at 4 was in U.S.A. at Belmont Park where he was saddled by H. Graham Motion, the man who had charge of Serjeant At Arms for a while. Planetaire is a full-brother to MONDIALISTE (Prix Jean Prat, Gr.1) who is now a stallion at Elwick Stud in Durham and a half-brother to IMPRESSIONNANTE (Prix de Sandringham, Gr.2) whose son INTELLO by Galileo won the Prix du Jockey Club, Gr.1 and holds court at Cheveley Park Stud at Newmarket. Planetaire's fourth dam Fall Aspen is one of the most influential of tap-roots of recent times and ancestress of successful sires such as Dubai Millennium, Fort Wood, Timber Country, Colorado Dancer, Bianconi, Elnadim, Hamas, etc. In India, we have had Eljohar (Mukteshwar Stud) and Duja (Pratap Stud) who traced to Fall Aspen. With 40 foals from his first crop, Planetaire has the best representation among the Freshmen Sires. That is followed by 60 in his second. Paucity of numbers will certainly not be Planetaire's handicap. QUASAR (ch 2011 Seeking The Dia - Belle Jour by Smarty Jones) Standing at Ruia Stud, Shirval, Maharashtra 16 wins from 22 starts at 3 to 5 (1600 m. to 2800 m.). Best rating 127. Only son of Seeking The Dia at stud in India. Recent stallions at Ruia Stud: Warrshan[USA], Mr. Mellon[USA]. Chatham Strait[USA], Chevalier[IRE] and Surfrider[IRE] One exceptionally well performed Indian-bred stallion who went to stud in 2016 is Quasar. He is also the only chestnut stallion of the 2016 team. Quasar, despite his stellar record -- 16 wins including six Gr.1s, never off-the-board in his 22 starts and stakes of nearly Rs. 7 crores -- never quite got his due during his racing days. His victory in the Omkar Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1 over stablemate Be Safe was controversial and a sizeable portion of racing public sincerely believes that he did not win on merit. That cast him as a villain and despite subsequently reaffirming his superiority over Be Safe in three meetings, he could never quite win the approval of disillusioned race goers. But make no mistake. He was fine, consistent and game race horse half whose wins were gained over 2400 m. and longer. His staying ability is puzzling when you consider that his own DI Index is 7.00 ! Quasar's sire Seeking The Dia was Storm Cat's highest stakes earner. He was born in U.S.A., raced primarily in Japan, had starts in France, England and Singapore. He was twice runner-up in the Japan Cup (Dirt), Gr.1. He started his innings as a stallion in U.S.A. but later moved to Chile. He has been fairly successful, getting six Gr.1 winners and three Champions. Quasar's dam Belle Jour, a daughter of Kentucky Derby, Gr.1 winner Smarty Jones did not win. The next dam, Sky Legend, did not race. The third dam Sky Beauty, however, was a Champion, a winner of 15 races including nine Gr.1s and the Fillies' Triple Crown. The fourth dam Maplejinsky, a winner three Gr.1 races, was a three-parts sister to Dayjur, winner of Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp, Gr.1, Europe's top sprint. Despite his own imposing performance and a top class pedigree, Quasar has been only moderately patronised. He has seven foals in each of his first two crops. The number of mares which visited him in his third year at stud isn't significantly higher. SMUGGLER'S COVE[IRE] (b 2012 Fastnet Rock - Chenchikova by Sadler's Wells) Standing at Track Supreme Stud, Ganganagar, Rajasthan 2 wins at 2 (1400 m.) from 7 starts to 3. Best official rating 109. Other son of Fastnet Rock in India: Cougar Mountain (Capricorn Stud) Recent stallions at Track Supreme Stud: Meteorologist[USA], Rambus, Equitable[USA] and Samhoon[USA] The late Mr. H.S. Dhillon was an ardent fan of Mr. Prospector and the first stallion to stand at his stud was a son of his, Meteorologist. Meteorologist had a long innings at Track Supreme. A.P. Indy was Mr. Dhillon's new favourite and the two successors of Meteorologist -- Equitable and Samhoon -- were both sons of his. Unfortunately, both had very brief careers. Himmat Singh Dhillon has taken over after his father passed away and in picking Smuggler's Cove, he has shifted from American bloodlines. Smuggler's Cove was owned by Coolmore and resident at Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle establishment. As a two year-old, Smuggler's Cove made his debut only in September. He won his next two starts -- including a Listed race at Dundalk -- and his trainer decided to throw him in deep water in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes, Gr.1 at Newmarket. He started as the second favourite to Sheikh Hamdan's Estidhkaar but could only finish third to two outsiders in the winner Belardo -- now standing at Kildangan Stud for a fee of 10,000 euros -- and Kodi Bear (Rathbarry Stud, 6,000 euros). Estidhkaar, too, is standing in Ireland at Tara Stud; his fee is 5,000 euros. Smuggler's Cove did not show up to any advantage in his three starts at 3. Coolmore has reaped much success from Sadler's Wells-Danehill cross -- or the other way around -- and Smuggler's Cove represents it. Fastnet Rock, the sire of Smuggler's Cove was Champion Three Year-Old in Australia as well as a Champion Sprinter later. He commenced his breeding career 'Down Under' and became a Champion Sire. He then shifted to Coolmore and his fee for the last covering season was 70,000 euros. A prolific breeder -- he already has over 2,000 foals -- he has had his share of success and several of his sons are at stud Chenchikova, the dam of Smuggler's Cove, is a full-sister to dual Derby winner and Champion Sire High Chaparral. Smuggler's Cove is also closely related to David Livingston who is making his debut this year. There are 19 foals in the first crop of Smuggler's Cove. His second crop is almost double (37) in size. TENTH STAR[[IRE] (Dansili - Alpha Lupi by Rahy) Standing at Mebajeona Stud, Muktsar, Punjab 3 wins in Ireland and U.S.A. at 2 and 5 from 15 starts (1400 m. and 1700 m.). Best Official Rating 105. Other sons of Dansili in India: Home Affairs[GB] (Mebajeona Stud) and Surfrider[IRE] (Ruia Stud) Recent stallions at Mebajeona Stud: Adjamoun[IRE], International, Home Affairs[GB] and Express Wish[GB] The last of the new stallions of 2016 is called, appropriately, Tenth Star who took up duties at Mebajeona Stud. Early in this decade, Mebajeona Stud was on a high with the success of its 'got-abroads' Vijays Pride and Plenipotent and the good start of its new stallion Home Affairs. But Home Affairs died young and his successor Express Wish, too, had a short innings. Tenth Star, like his two predecessors is a grandson of Danzig. Bred by the Niarchos Family (like Multidimensional), Tenth Star was trained by Aidan O'Brien at Ballydoyle. He carried his breeders' colours even after Coolmore acquired an interest in him. Tenth Star graduated from maidens on his third start in June when he won a three-runner Golden Fleece Stakes, L at Leopardstown. For his last start as a two year-old, O'Brien sent Tenth Star to England for the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes, Gr.2 over a mile along with two other Ballydoyle inmates. Tenth Star finished second, sandwiched between stablemates Daddy Long Legs and Wrote. In his four starts at 3, Tenth Star failed to come on board. On his last start that year, Tenth Star finished last of five runners in the KPMG Enterprise Stakes, Gr.3 where Speaking of Which, now a stallion at Usha Stud was third. The colt did not race at 4 but he scored on his American debut at Gulfstream Park for his second and last winning bracket. Dansili, the sire of Tenth Star, is a sire of successful sires like Rail Link, Harbinger, Zoffany, Strategic Prince and Bated Breath, to name just a few. His two previous sons in India -- Home Affairs and Surfrider -- have had their share of winners. Tenth Star's sister, the European Champion 3YO Filly Alpha Centauri is bred very much like him, both being sired by Danehill line stallions. His third dam is the great race mare Miesque. Miesque also excelled at stud producing Kingmambo -- a chef de race stallion classified as Classic/Stout --, Champion 3YO Filly East of the Moon -- the third dam of Tenth Star -- and sires Mingun and Miesque's Son. A grandson of East of the Moon called Moon Prospect came to India as a stallion but in the terminal days of Doaba Stud he had no chance of making a mark. Tenth Star covered a fair sized book of 38 mares in his first year from which he has 20 foals. There are 30 foals in his second crop. PAST THE POST In 2018, 1231 foals were born in India. That was the lowest foal crop since since 1992 which numbered 1214. After reaching the all-time high of 1902 in 2011, the foal crop had been falling each year. The worm turned in 2018, the fall was arrested and 1275 foals were recorded. The rise and fall in foal numbers is cyclic and it follows the economic principles. The last rise is perhaps an indication of an upward trend.