Actor Hooda shines in gymkhana races

MUMBAI: Punters who stayed on nearing sunset at Mahalaxmi on Casino Royale Multimillion Day on Sunday got to watch the amateurs strut their talent in the gymkhana meeting of the Amateur Riders Club. Among them actor Randeep Hooda and a grandson of Shashi Kapoor, Zahan.
Randeep finished second on Johnny Walker. "I was riding a dressage horse. I think I let her go rather late."
Zahan didn't finish among the top three.But he has age on his side. The race was won by Kamran Khan on Diva. Kamran works the babies during the track work.
Said Adil Gandhy, the secretary of the Amateur Riders Club about Hooda,"He was impressive."
Randeep came back to riding after a big gap. He is busy with his film Rang Rasiya on the life of painter Raja Ravi Varma. He had won a silver medal at the Delhi Horse Show. He had to compete against riders who were Arjuna awardees and Padma Shri winners.
Hooda believes he has the required connectivity with the animal. He owned eight horses but gave two away to a couple of new horse learners. Randeep says riding will always be special for him.
There are four gymkhana races this season. Two remain. There are about 12 riders for the current season. In years past riders from Matheran would dominate. But for the past four-five years their horses have been stopped because their health is under a cloud after an outbreak of equine disease a few years ago.
That's a pity because Matheran has given some good riders Vasant Shinde, the all-time great being one of them. The RWITC, which tackled the equine disease at Pune extremely well, should think about extending their arm to Matheran for the future of racing and riding.