It all began with an English thoroughbred called Sydney
His vision and mission is to breed a Sri Lankan thoroughbred horse. For Palitha Samarakoon, an enthusiastic horse breeder this has been a journey he embarked on with Sydney, the thoroughbred who was raced in England and later in Singapore.
After retirement from racing, Sydney was gifted to the Sri Lanka Police on January 7, 1979 by the Singapore Turf Club. Grey (white) in colour and about 16 hands tall, Sydney was around 17 years when bought by the Mahaweli Authority (Horse Breeding Programme).
With business magnate Upali Wijewardene’s horses being gifted by Dr. Seevali Ratwatte to the Mahaweli Authority in 1982, the Mahaweli Authority horse breeding programme was started. The main purpose of breeding these horses was to use them in forestry supervision, supplying the requirements of the police and even the private sector. “However, we then had a very big problem with the non-availability of stud material in the island. All other Police horses were geldings (castrated) and there were not many private horse breeders who helped me in this endeavour,” Palitha explained.
Having come to know of Sydney, the Mahaweli Authority took steps to obtain approval to purchase the horse from the Inspector General of Police, through the good offices of the late Gamini Dissanayake, then Minister of Lands and Mahaweli Development who wanted to make the best use of this valuable gift. The late W.S. Abeysekera, then the officer- in- charge of stables in Colombo went out of his way to help the Mahaweli Programme in their efforts to breed a Sri Lankan horse.
“The Police were not well disposed to sell Sydney to us,” Palitha recalls, adding that Sydney was the only white horse they had for parade. “However, now that Sydney was a proven sire, a stallion, we had to somehow get Sydney to continue our breeding programme. At the request of Minister Dissanayake to then President J.R. Jayawardene, the President approved the sale of Sydney to the Mahaweli Stables in 1988.
“We purchased Sydney for Rs.150,000. At the age of about 18 years (70 human years) he sired five foals to the best of my knowledge! Prince of Zulu, Biso and Election Commissioner are three names which come to my mind. Sir Sydney died in our stables in Kundasale in 1989.”
“The normal life span of a horse is about 23 years. Prince of Zulu in turn sired a filly by the name of Coconut Grove that foaled a colt namely Silver Ride. The blood line therefore is Sydney’s son Prince of Zulu, his daughter Coconut Grove and her son Silver Ride,” says Palitha.
“The late Benjamin Peiris, stable manager of the Mahaweli horse breeding programme, an excellent jockey (rider) during his time took to breeding systems very fast. The first mare to breed off Sydney was Amal, one of Upali Wijewardene’s favourites, a beautiful cross-bred which he had bought for a large sum of money. Prince of Zulu was born in September 1986, chestnut in colour but turned pure white at the age of one and a half years. Horses at times do change colour unlike cattle and goats. Its conformation, poise and stride were stunning. I have yet to see a cross-bred so striking. The fact that it was born in Kalawewa where the soil is rich in calcium and magnesium and also the care and maintenance we gave, also made the difference,” said Palitha
Prince of Zulu was the pride of Palitha’s stables (he was Director, Forestry and Environment for Mahaweli Systems). “I had a vision to breed a Sri Lankan horse which should be about 15-15.5 hands in height and range, maintained as you see so in countries like India and Pakistan. My mission was to breed this ideal horse to suit our climate and needs. I was very close to achieving my mission in the Mahaweli Stables but due to very unfortunate incidents which happened in the country, the entire programme was abandoned with one horse being shot –Rustum, a stallion from Australia.”
Now on his own and onto his fourth generation in upgrading his own stock of mares which has blood lines going down to Asterix (Australian),Convenience (Indian), Zamaknie/Airbourne(New Zealand), he now has added the blood line of Sydney having Silver Ride introduced to the stables this season. With this fine base, I will next use a selected thoroughbred with a proven pedigree of four generations, which is my final goal.”
The thoroughbred can be distinguished by its poise, agility, spirit and speed. So, pedigrees are important with the correct blood lines. You do get thoroughbred horses from all over the world today but the question is do they conform to the real standards. To the experienced eye, the fine lines of a thoroughbred can be seen even from a distance, he says.
Palitha is grateful to the Rifle Corps for permitting him to carry on this programme on their grounds since 1999 and to the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Peradeniya for their support and other breeders who assisted him in supplying stud material. “Devinda Senanayake in this connection takes a special place for his advice and valuable support,” he says.
Palitha recently gifted three cross-bred horses to the Army Mounted Division in Diyatalawa, received by the Army Commander and hopes they would use this stock as a base to do their own breeding.