Did you know that GP Sippy, who produced Sholay, the movie that broke all previous box office records 40 years ago, was a race lover and a racehorse owner? Some of the most thrilling scenes of the movie featured Gabbar Singh’s men on horseback and set a benchmark for audacious stunts astride galloping horses. 

Dhanno, the mare who pulled the tonga owned by Basanti (Hema Malini), became the most famous equine superstar of Bollywood. And to commemorate the success of his blockbuster movie, GP Sippy had named a blue-blooded thoroughbred horse that he bought soon after the movie’s release, as Sholay. The horse raced at Bangalore in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and eventually reached the top class of the handicap, winning many prestigious races along the way.