Indian bred Thundering On thunders home in Epsom Oaks!

Shapoor Mistry (in black suit) leading in the Epsom Oaks winner Thundering On (DB McMonagle up) with trainer Joseph O`Brien at Epsom Downs, UK, on Friday

In a performance that would make every Indian race lover proud, Shapoor Mistry's homebred Thundering On stormed to a commanding victory in the Betfred Oaks (Gr 1), the fillies' Classic at Epsom Downs on Friday, June 5. Thundering On traveled from last to first in the hands of jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle, who powered her to win by a convincing margin of 3-3/4 lengths in a slick time of 2m 39.64s for the stamina-testing mile-and-a-half trip on good-to-soft ground. The Frankel filly was trained by Joseph O'Brien.

Coming off an emphatic Group 3 Salsabil Stakes success at Navan, where she quickened impressively after finding traffic, Thundering On arrived in good nick, and was quoted at around 5/1. The stout pedigree (out of Group 1 winner Thundering Nights) perfectly suited Epsom's undulations and stamina demands. The 33-year old O'Brien, notching his first Epsom Oaks, hailed her track adaptability. In Thundering On's Epsom success, O'brien offered a textbook example of targeted preparation paying rich dividends in big races.

Interestingly, only two Indian horse owners had earlier managed to win an English Classic in the last 100 years: Windsor Lad, owned by Maharaja of Rajpipla, had won the Derby in 1934, and Radha Sigtia's Sodium had triumphed in the St Leger in 1966. Thundering On not only ended a 50-year drought for Indian owners, but also became the first ever Indian-bred to win an Epsom Classic.

Shapoor's English dream

"It's a dream come true," said Shapoor Mistry after leading in Thundering On.

Part of the illustrious Shapoorji Pallonji racing lineage with strong Indian roots via Manjri Stud, Shapoor operates a boutique European string of only a handful of horses, 5 to be precise, focusing on quality rather than quantity. Recent highlights include juveniles like Havana Lightning and Shimmering Sun, plus Rosy Affair's Listed success. Thundering On, following in dam Thundering Nights' Group 1 footsteps, crowns a dream purple patch for the Mistrys--proving that in racing, it's not the size of the arsenal but the precision that counts. Truly a proud moment for Indian connections on the world stage!