Maharaja Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla was one of the most famous racehorse owners in India, England and Europe during his reign from 1915 to 1948. Himself a fine polo player, he had a keen eye for horses, and deployed experts to help him acquire some fine horses that won him several coveted races.
His best horse, by far, was Windsor Lad that won the Epsom Derby of England, the blue riband of the turf, in 1934. Windsor Lad was bred in Ireland by Dan Sullivan. He was trained by Marcus Marsh, whose father Richard Marsh trained 1909 Derby-winning horse Minoru for King Edward VII. In the Epsom Derby 1934, Windsor Lad was ridden by Charlie Smirke, defeating the hitherto unbeaten hot favourite Colombo.
Maharaja Vijaysinhji is still the only Indian owner to win the coveted Epsom Derby. He was fondly known as Pip in the United Kingdom. After his greatest triumph on the turf, the Epsom Derby in 1934, the crowd estimated to be between 250,000 to 500,000 cheered him by chanting ‘Good old Pip’. The victory was the culmination of his lifelong ambition to win this coveted race.
He thereby clinched a unique hat-trick of Derbys, having won the first-ever Indian Derby in 1919 and the Irish Derby in 1926.
His Kunigal-bred horse Tipster was ridden by the Australian jockey Perry Robert ‘Bunty’ Brown in the Indian Derby 1919, also known as the country-bred Derby.
The Irish Derby 1926 was won by the Maharaja’s horse Embargo with Steve Donoghue astride. Embargo also won the Curragh 2000 Guineas in 1926, and the Belgian Grand Prix in 1927.
Windsor Lad won the Criterion Stakes in 1933. As a three-year-old in 1934, Windsor Lad won the Chester Vase and the Newmarket Stakes, before the big one, the Epsom Derby. Thereafter, Maharaja Vijaysinhji sold him to Martin Benson. The same year, Windsor Lad won the Great Yorkshire Stakes and the St. Leger. In 1935, Windsor Lad won the Burwell Stakes, Coronation Cup, Rous Memorial Stakes, and finally the Eclipse Stakes.
Maharaja Vijaysinhji’s horse Carioca ran in the Epsom Derby 1936, ridden by Arthur Wragg. He led from the start till the Tattenham Corner, then started tiring, and finished 17th in a field of 22. The race was won by Mahmoud, owned by Maharaja Vijaysinhji’s great friend the Aga Khan III. Mahmoud was ridden by Charlie Smirke, who was astride Windsor Lad in the Derby triumph of 1934. Second in the Derby 1936 was Taj Akbar, also owned by the Aga Khan, and ridden by Gordon Richards.
Australian jockey Cecil Rupert Selby rode for Maharaja Vijaysinhji in the late 1930s.
Maharaja Vijaysinhji owned the famous horses Tipperary and Melesigenes, that won practically every big event in India. Some other horses that Maharaja Vijaysinhji owned were Washington, Black Tulip, Napoli, Spots and Mazeppa.
Indra Vikram Singh's space 