The Architect Of Ambition
Zavaray Poonawalla’s Blueprint For Indian Racing On The World Stage
Few names in the history of Indian Thoroughbred racing carry the weight and resonance of Zavaray S. Poonawalla. As President of the Poonawalla Group, patriarch of India’s most celebrated racing dynasty, and the man widely regarded as the 'Godfather' of Indian racing, Poonawalla has spent a lifetime doing what no other individual in the subcontinent has attempted with such single-minded conviction: proving that Indian-bred horses belong on the world stage, and then building the infrastructure to make that ambition permanent.
Indian racing is not a recent or peripheral development. It dates back to the late 18th century, with organised racing first established in Calcutta in 1769, followed by Madras in 1777 and Bombay in 1798. For more than two centuries, Thoroughbred racing and breeding have been part of India’s sporting and cultural fabric. This history matters because it underlines that India is not trying to build something new from scratch; it is working to fully realise a legacy that already exists but is often overlooked when Indian breeding is discussed today.
The Poonawalla family entered this tradition in 1946, when Zavaray’s father, the late Soli A. Poonawalla, founded the Poonawalla Stud Farm in Pune with 12 mares and a single stallion. Under Zavaray’s stewardship, alongside his brother Dr Cyrus S. Poonawalla, the operation has expanded across multiple sites, housing 137 broodmares and standing three resident stallions. The numbers are staggering: 16 Champion Breeder titles, 385 Classic winners, 710 Group victories, 71 Indian Classics, and 10 Indian Derbies.
A Record Written In Results
History shows that when pedigree, horsemanship, and long-term thinking come together, India can produce horses capable of competing at the highest international level. Over the years, Indian-bred horses from Poonawalla Stud Farm have performed internationally, often against deeper and more established competition.
Mystical made history with back-to-back victories at the 2007 Dubai International Racing Carnival and went on to be among the leading contenders for the Gr.1 Dubai Turf. Astonish won on debut in a Class 1 race in Hong Kong and later set a track record for the metric mile, validating Indian breeding in one of the world’s most competitive racing jurisdictions.
Simply Noble captured the Gr.1 Sultan of Selangor Gold Cup, the second jewel of the Malaysian Triple Crown. Imperialism became the first Indian-bred juvenile exported to win in Singapore, achieving that feat in only his second career start. Adler travelled to the United States and won.
Saddle Up was crowned Horse of the Year in Singapore.
“The issue we face is not one of potential, but of consistency,” Poonawalla reflects. “Moving from isolated success to sustained global relevance requires structure, confidence, and institutional recognition. Without these, even long-established racing nations struggle to convert capability into continuity.”
The Japan Blueprint
For India to move from isolated international success to sustained global presence, Poonawalla believes the country must look to models of nations that have transformed themselves decisively". “In my view, no country offers a clearer blueprint than Japan,” he says. “What they achieved was not accidental. It was built on vision, discipline, and a long-term commitment to excellence. Japan aligned breeding, racing, infrastructure, and governance, and backed that alignment with investment and patience. The result is a jurisdiction that now competes and wins at the highest level worldwide.”
It is within this framework that Poonawalla has made what may prove to be his most consequential breeding decision. For the 2026 season, he has positioned two Group One winning stallions to stand side by side at Poonawalla Stud Farm; Territories and Economics, each selected for complementary strengths. Territories brings proven European depth, having produced a Group One winner at Royal Ascot and versatile Group One winners from six to 10 furlongs. In addition, he is the sire of a runner-up in the Epsom Derby, further demonstrating the range and quality of his progeny.
Economics brings raw, top-class ability at the highest level: a horse who defeated elite contemporaries such as Auguste Rodin in Ireland’s premier weight-for-age race, the Gr.1 Irish Champion Stakes, earned nominations for European Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, and rose into the top five of the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2024. That level of performance reflects genuine international class, not just promise.
“What Japan did with Sunday Silence is what I am now attempting, in our own Indian way, with Territories and Economics,” Poonawalla says with characteristic directness.
Mares Of International Calibre
A stallion, however brilliant, is only as effective as the mares he covers. To support these stallions, Poonawalla has assembled a broodmare band of rare international quality.
Among those currently resident at the farm are: Act of War, winner of the Italian Guineas; Dabyah, winner of the Gr.3 Fred Darling Stakes and placed in both the Gr.1 Prix Marcel Boussac and the Gr.1 Coronation Stakes; Donjah, winner of the Gr.1 Preis von Europa, also placed twice in the Gr.1 Großer Preis von Baden and again in the Gr.1 Preis von Europa; Nemoralia, a Group Three winner placed in four Group One races including the Coronation Stakes, the Frizette Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and the Prix Jean Prat, and dam of May Day Ready, winner of two Group Two races and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; Pleascach, winner of the Gr.1 Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Gr.1 Yorkshire Oaks, also placed in the Gr.1 Prix de l’Opéra and the Gr.1 Irish Champion Stakes; Powerful Breeze, winner of the Gr.2 May Hill Stakes and runner-up in the Gr.1 Fillies’ Mile, all achieved in just three career starts; Riposte, winner of three Group Two races including the Ribblesdale Stakes, and three-parts sister to Kind, the dam of Frankel and Noble Mission; September, winner of the Chesham Stakes and placed in the Gr.1 Fillies’ Mile, the Gr.1 Moyglare Stud Stakes, and the Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; So Many Shots, a Group Three winner herself and dam of a winner of the Italian Derby, as well as an unbeaten Classic winner of the Italian 1,000 Guineas and the Italian Oaks; Sophie P, winner of the Gr.1 Gamely Stakes; Steip Amach, a Group Three winner placed in both the Gr.1 Prix Rothschild and the Gr.1 Prix Jean Romanet; Unforgetable Filly, winner of the Gr.2 German 1,000 Guineas; and Wekeela, winner of the Gr.3 Prix Chloé and placed in the Gr.1 Prix Saint-Alary, the Gr.1 Gamely Stakes, the Gr.1 Jenny Wiley Stakes, and the Gr.1 Prix de l’Opéra.
On the domestic front, the roster is equally formidable. Juliette, a queen of the Indian turf, is a three-time winner of the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, runner-up in the same race on two occasions, and winner of both the Indian Oaks and the Indian St. Leger. Alluring Silver is a winner of the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, widely regarded as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe of India because it is the country’s premier all-India weight-for-age championship race. Forest Flame won the Breeders’ Multi-Million, India’s equivalent of the Dewhurst and Lagardère, as well as the Indian 1,000 Guineas and was runner-up in both the Indian Oaks and the Indian Derby. The deliberate pairing of international bloodlines with proven Indian performers reflects Poonawalla’s belief that the next generation of Indian champions must be competitive on both fronts.
Investing In The Ecosystem
Alongside strengthening the breeding programme, Poonawalla has taken it upon himself to support Indian racing at the structural level. “If we want our industry to flourish, we cannot rely solely on private ambition,” he says. “We need institutions and individuals to commit resources that lift the entire ecosystem.”
Over the past year, he has introduced what is believed to be the largest privately funded stakes enhancement initiative in the history of Indian racing, a commitment of approximately US$2.4 million (INR20.5 crores) annually, amounting to roughly US$7.4 million (INR62 crores) over three years. The programme elevates prize money across key racing events, strengthens the national programme, and ensures that top-class horses, owners, trainers, and jockeys are rewarded at levels befitting a sport with centuries of heritage, a sport that has attracted legends of the saddle from Lester Piggott and Frankie Dettori to Mick Kinane, Ryan Moore, Olivier Peslier, Christophe Lemaire, and more recently Oisin Murphy and Tom Marquand.
This commitment is deeply consistent with the Poonawalla family’s track record. Zavaray and Cyrus launched the Poonawalla Breeders’ Multimillion in 1990, India’s richest juvenile race, which has run annually ever since. Zavaray has served as Chairman of the Royal Western India Turf Club and Chairman of the Turf Authorities of India. In 2022, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Turf Authorities of India, only the second recipient of that honour in its 60-year history. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998.
The Poonawalla family’s influence extends across the broader Asian racing landscape through long-standing representation within the Asian Racing Federation, the apex body governing racing across Asia, Oceania, Africa, and the Gulf region. Dr Cyrus Poonawalla served as Vice Chairman of the ARF and was India’s sole representative on the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. These connections have been instrumental in ensuring that when the world’s racing authorities discuss the future, India has a seat at the table.
A Flag Yet To Fly
Perhaps the most significant structural development underpinning Poonawalla’s ambitions is the establishment of a WOAH-approved Equine Disease-Free Zone in India, which, for the first time, provides the regulatory capability to export horses and removes a long-standing constraint that had limited India’s international participation for decades.
“My vision for Indian Thoroughbred racing is clear,” Poonawalla says. “India has the history, bloodlines, and horsemanship to operate at a far higher level, but this requires alignment, disciplined investment, and a policy framework that recognises the industry’s economic value. With constructive government support, modern regulation, and long-term stakeholder commitment, Indian racing can compete with the world’s leading jurisdictions consistently. The establishment of a WOAH-approved Equine Disease-Free Zone now provides, for the first time, the regulatory capability to export horses and removes a long-standing structural constraint. My focus is to ensure these foundations are fully leveraged so the sport advances with clarity, purpose, and confidence — and so the Indian flag may finally fly high on the international stage.”
Having won ten Indian Derbies, produced champions across four continents, invested crores in elevating prize money, and now positioned two Group One stallions to reshape the genetic future of Indian racing, Zavaray Poonawalla is not slowing down. He is, as he has always been, building — with the patience of a breeder and the vision of an architect.