TDN Weekend

holidays I would be there during morning training," he said. "How- ever, once I started my engineer- ing studies, he basically put a ban on me, saying there is no way I could ever work at the racetrack. He wanted me to focus on my ed- ucation and in hindsight it was the right choice. I loved my father a lot and knew he was saying this for a reason. He knew that it was a sev- en-day-a-week job and that only the top trainers make decent mon- ey while the rest struggle. If you are a good engineer, doctor, busi- nessman you can make a lot better living. He understood something I did not understand at the age of 18." Shah, who came to the U.S. in 1985, initially raced some horses in India, employing his father as his trainer. But the elder Shah would not even embrace that link to rac- ing. "I bought a few horses for my dad and I thought I should double down on buying horses in India," he said. "After buying four or five horses, I asked him to go to the sales and get us some more because I want- ed to try to win the Indian Derby. He came up with all kinds of excus- es...`I couldn't find a horse, I didn't like that horse you asked about.' He still didn't want me to really get involved in racing. At that stage, he knew my company was doing well and he wanted me to get a good baseline in the U.S. He wanted to see me have super solid footing and invest in the right things: my business and real estate." CALNET has offices in Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., and in Southern Cali- fornia. In the early days of his com- pany, Shah spent most of his time in Virginia and de- cided to develop a Maryland-based stable. He used trainers Jimmy Murphy and Dale Capuano, spent de- cent money at the sales, and had very little success. His fortunes on the racetrack did not change until he aligned himself with bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, who, among other things, recommended that he hire Bob Baffert as his trainer. Shah sent Baffert and Lanni to the sales in 2009 and stayed out of their way. "Kaleem is a very smart man and he lets people do their jobs," Lan- ni said. "He is enthusiastic about the business and also knows what good horses look like because he grew up around racing, too. But he lets Bob do the training and when I am very thankful and very proud to this day that I am an American. I could not have achieved the success that I have in any other part of the world. 21

• Cover