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Journalism of Courage
WATCH those legs. Her walk is perfect and so is the neck, but the shoulders and chest reveal she still has some growing up to do,8217;8217; stated the 20-something next to me. Normally, this clinical analysis of the female anatomy with a stranger might have resulted in some discomfort. Yet I found myself saying, 8216;8216;But the backside8217;s pretty good, isn8217;t it?8217;8217;
He nodded approvingly, surprised at the insight from someone he had taken to be a greenhorn. I smiled my professional horse bidder smile, withholding the tiny detail that I was just repeating what I had heard from my pal Rohan More a minute ago. After all, at a horse auction, it8217;s imperative folks don8217;t take you for a ride.
And I was determined to play the game. Even my outfit was a perfect balance between the fashionable and the businesslike. Only, I needn8217;t have bothered.
For walking into the paddocks of the Pune racecourse for the 3 pm auction, I quickly realised this was not one of those society racing events where folks dressed to kill. Looks were important here, but only if they belonged to a horse in the ring.
I settled down in one of the back rows. 8216;8216;Here to watch?8217;8217; grinned owner Ashwin Mehta, as he passed me by. 8216;8216;No, buy,8217;8217; I replied. His smile grew broader, 8216;8216;Of course, of course.8217;8217; I knew I needed more ammo and promptly bought a copy of the bulky 2004 Annual Auction sale of Two Year Old Bloodstock that listed all the 593 registered horses. Only 359 had turned up, of which just 19 made it to the ring. The rest had already been sold outside the ring8212;a common, tax-saving practice.
The next strategy was to tackle auctioneer Cyrus Madan. I walked up to the cubicle in the centre of the ring and explained that I wanted to bid, not buy. 8216;8216;Just watch me as I go about the bidding. Whenever it gets very fast, it means the bids are going to go high. Slip in yours in the middle and I8217;ll make sure you aren8217;t trapped!8217;8217; he smiled.
Boy, was I ready now! The first to come under the hammer was Lot 22, Meteorologist8212;a small, slightly sad-looking colt. All around me, people flipped the auction book to page 22. So did I, even if the page made no sense as it traced the foal8217;s genealogy. The bidding started at the minimum Rs 10,000 and ended with that too, a sole bidder claiming the foal.
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ON THE TROT
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| What you need to check before you bid
8226; Pedigree: Bloodline is all important8212;father, mother, sister, brother, half-sister, half-brother. 8226; Confirmation: The right stance, sound limbs, full shoulders, neck, back8212;the complete look. 8226; Movement: The right walk8212;free, easy, not choppy |
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Things perked up with Lot 25, a robust Concordian filly. From 10,000 the bids moved up speedily8212;11,000, 12,000, 15,000, 20,000, 25,000. I caught Madan8217;s eye and raised my hand, heart-in-mouth. 8216;8216;30,000,8217;8217; he pointed at me. For a second, the vision of leading a horse back to the office blurred my senses as the next bid seemed to take an inordinately long time coming. Filly, you8217;ve really been silly, I told myself. Then I heard it. 8216;8216;35,000,8217;8217; said my saviour and I could breathe again. The bid closed at a comfortable Rs 65,000.
Lot 36 was a beauty, sired by Classic Tale out of Lumiere see, I was getting there already!. 8216;8216;Come on ladies and gentlemen, surely you know a good horse when you see one,8217;8217; boomed Madan8217;s voice as he listed the colt8217;s impressive pedigree. Once again, bids flew fast. We hit Rs 50,000 in seconds and headed furiously to 1,40,000. But the chestnut colt remained unsold. 8216;8216;This means the owner had a reserve price under which he was not willing to sell,8217;8217; whispered Mehta.
The crowd had swelled to over 500 by now. Lot 303, a dapper gray and gorgeous colt, commanded the highest figure for the day8212;Rs 90,000. Apparently, in private stud farms the figures can go up to Rs 75 lakh.
By now I was up against the railing for a close look at legs and curves. I encountered actor Deven Verma who revealed he had just sold his share in a horse you can have a syndicate with up to 10 people buying one horse. In less than two hours all 19 were done with. It was quite enjoyable, really.
Hey, maybe the syndicate option is worth exploring with colleagues and friends. Only, I think I can already hear their 8216;neighs8217;.
