DallasTodywalla, dashing in every sense

Dallas Todywalla is a trainer who has made a striking appearance on the Indian race track be it for his debonair looks or for the results that he has obtained through the horses entrusted to him. Dallas has won every important race that is there to be won on the Indian calendar for a trainer based at Mumbai. Since he concentrates basically at his home centre and has ventured out to have a go at the classics mostly at Hyderabad, his classic tally may not reflect any success at Bangalore. That was because being he was a retained trainer for turf baron Dr M A M Ramaswamy for a long time. The turf baron has all-India operations; he had to restrict his area of activity.

Two Indian Derbys and two Indian Turf Invitation Cup winners sit at the top of his achievement table. Star Supreme and Starsky gave him the unique honour of being among the handful of trainers to have won this mother of all Indian Derbys more than once, Forest Fantasy and Simply Supreme gave him the distinction of winning the Indian Turf Invitation Cup an equal number of times. Dallas also has the exclusive record of saddling a hat-trick of Pune Derby winners through Forest Fantasy, Scenic Royale and Ray of Light. Dallas has won all the five Indian classics at varying point of time.  

The affable trainer had made the trainers championship his exclusive preserve for a number of years both at Mumbai and Pune. At the height of his career, he suffered a setback as Dr M A M Ramaswamy pulled out horses from his stable and since the majority of his horses belonged to that single owner, he had to start all over again. To the credit of Dallas, he has fought back from the adversity and is slowly re-establishing his position. Though it may take some time before he could regain the champion status, Dallas has the grit and the talent to bounce back.

As Dallas races his wards to run to their potential all the time, he also enjoys a clean image with the racing public. And this in itself is a stellar achievement given the pressures and pulls under which a trainer has to operate these days.