A pall of gloom hung over what had otherwise been anticipated to be an afternoon of thrilling action at the Bangalore racetrack on March 4th. For the news had just trickled in that prominent breeder Adesh Kanwarjit Singh Brar, better known as "Sonny", had just lost his long battle with cancer that morning.


Born in Amritsar, Punjab, on October 15, 1949, Sonny was fond of animals from an early age. A student at the prestigious Doon School in Dehra Dun, he doted on his dogs during his vacations at his ancestral home in Sarai Nanga, then in Faridkot District, in Punjab. Apart from animals, a love of politics was also in his blood, no doubt due to the fact that his father, Harcharan Singh Brar, was a career politician who would go on to scale illustrious heights as Chief Minister of Punjab and as Governor of Orissa and Haryana.

Sonny thereafter earned a degree in agriculture from the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, which equipped him with a deeper understanding of the science behind the husbandry of animals and the growing of fodder crops. From dogs to horses was a short leap and the Brar family established the Dashmesh Stud around 1972 at their home in Sarai Nanga. Some of the initial breeding stock was owned in association with the Habibullah family, who moved part of their bloodstock from the Sewania Stud in Bhopal to the new farm in Punjab to form the nucleus of the breeding operation.


By this time, Sonny had acquired considerable knowledge of pedigrees and one of his earliest acquisitions was the high-class Mumtaz (by Asopo), who became dam of Dashmesh Stud's first classic winner, Grand Parade. The fledgling stud got a welcome boost by the fact that Everyday II*, whom they stood in partnership with Doaba Stud, proved to be the pre-eminent stallion of his time, with the likes of Zeeba, Aristocrat, Evita, Classic Touch, Adelina, etc., to his credit from his stints in the Punjab.

Sonny pioneered what was then a new concept – the setting up of satellite farms. Confident that Punjab's farmers could rear Thoroughbreds, he provided them with access to stallions and assistance in marketing of the produce. He thus ensured his stallions got greater patronage and also to some extent secured the future of horse breeding in the country by making it more broad-based.


Stallions like Fair World (by Worden), imported in 1977, T.V. Sunday (by T.V. Lark), imported in 1978 and Ballo (by Riverman), imported in 1979, were added to the roster and all sired classic winners. The first-ever son of Northern Dancer to hold court in India was Ilheus, who was brought in to the country in 1982 in partnership with Singh Stud Farm, and who stood at Dashmesh.

Nor were the mares forgotten. A trio of fillies arrived from Germany's famed Schlenderhan Stud – Irmelin, Leda and Schwanau (all daughters of Alpenkonig) – and all bred graded stakes winners. Within the country, Sweet Memories was leased from the Daga Stud and rewarded Sonny's foresight by breeding the top-class Queen Of The Hills (by Ballo) and Premium Spirit (by Ilheus). Sonny was particularly fond of Greenacres families and at one time almost a third of his broodmare band traced to Aurelie, Rose Beam, Rose Royal, Star Witness and Tosca, all of which had at some time graced the paddocks of Suresh Mahindra's farm at Theur (near Pune).

The combination of good land, successful stallions and well-bred and/or performed broodmares yielded excellent results and Dashmesh (and the associated Hargobind Stud) turned out numerous multi-classic winners like Bonzer, Brave Dancer, Chaitanya Ratham, Chaitanya Chakram, Elusive Pimpernel, Nine Carat and Winning Pretty.

History demonstrates that stud farms go through ups and downs and the Dashmesh and Hargobind bred runners followed this pattern. In 2001-2002, they had a banner year with nine graded stakes winners but in 2005-2006, this number fell to just one. Remedial measures have since yielded improved results and but for the sad loss of Sunday Doubt (by Sunday Silence) after only one crop, the stud's name would have been seen more frequently in recent times. Never one to be fazed, Sonny imported another son of the Japan-based breed shaper – Win Legend – and there is plenty of confidence in his ability to shine when his runners reach the track.

The great respect in which Sonny was held may be judged from the fact that both the present Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, and the previous Chief Minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh, were in attendance at his funeral. Sonny leaves behind his charming wife, Karan – whose splendid election victory announced just two days after his death provided some measure of joy in this grim period – and three sons, Tegbir, Harsimran and Karanveer, all of whom are involved with the stud in different ways.

Sonny may have shed his mortal coil but his spirit is still with us……