International bloodstock agent Anil Mukhi died Jan. 3 at his home in Surrey, British Columbia. He was 74.
A native of India, he moved to the Vancouver suburb of Surrey about 15 years ago with his wife, Sreedevi, and sons Rajiv, Karus, and Akshay. As a young man, he was a turf writer for The Hindu newspaper, where he introduced statistics that helped horseplayers, horsemen, and breeders.
Later he became prominent with the British Bloodstock Agency and his annual reports on racing and breeding from India were carried beginning in 1972 until the cessation of the yearling publication in 1981.
In addition to his career as India's senior racing journalist, historian, and resident pedigree expert, he expanded his own bloodstock business in the form of Indian Turf Services and Galaxy Bloodstock Services. He was noted for his canny eye and encyclopedic knowledge of pedigrees.
He became a consultant and agent for India's leading breeders, for whom he prospected, bought, and imported foreign bloodstock from the United States and Europe.
He is credited for arranging one of the largest consignments of mares and stallions for breeding to come into India on a single jumbo jet in the early 1980s. His meticulous planning saw the equine cargo delivered safely.
A friend to many in racing, Mukhi will be remembered as an old-fashioned man with a calm demeanor that belied his wry sense of humor.
He was a regular at Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton, Tattersalls, and Arqana.
