Khamkhaya Singh is also a brilliant polo player, a horse trainer of international repute and represented India in international squash tournaments.
Meet Khamkhaya Singh, a horse trainer par excellence
ANKITA PANDEY: “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” So said Winston Churchill!
One man who knows how true this is, Kunwar Khamkhaya Singh.
The prince of Delwara in Rajasthan is a descendant of the family that owned the Devigarh Palace, which is now converted into a luxury hotel.
Khamkhaya Singh is also a brilliant polo player, a horse trainer of international repute and represented India in international squash tournaments (he represented India in a tournament in Kenya in 1998).
Named after Kamakhya temple in Assam, one of the most venerated Shakti shrines in India, Khamkhaya’s love for horses is in his bloodline. At one point the family owned over 50 horses.
He took to riding during his school days at the Mayo College in Ajmer. Soon after graduating he travelled to the USA and UK to study, learn and then train yearlings and thoroughbreds.
And that is when he took to playing polo, and has since, never looked back. “I spent hours on a wooden practice horse, with the mallet. In the UK, I played with the Lexington Polo Club,” said Singh.
“In the US, I worked with one of the biggest consigners, Taylor Made Farms, and trained thoroughbreds and yearlings,” he added. Singh was recognised as one of the best trainers by the Kentucky based company.
He then moved to the Usha Stud farms in Delhi, providing his expertise. He occasionally travels to Bangalore’s Embassy International Riding School to teach his skills there.
But his heart lies in polo, where he wants to excel. “I will be turning pro soon. I have played with the Jindal team in Udaipur a few times. Now I want to enter the greens in a more professional manner and make a big mark in the game,” he said.
Talk then veers to his unmistakable royal lineage. Twirling his moustache, Kunwar Khamkhaya Singh tells of the tales of valour of his ancestors.
His family originally moved from Dhrangadhra in Gujarat to Udaipur in 1527 to support Rana Sangha of Mewar in the Battle of Khanwa against Babur.
In 1576’s Battle of Haldighati, his ancestor, who was a general in Maharana Pratap’s army, disguised himself as Pratap to facilitate his escape. He took Pratap’s place in the battlefield wearing his garments and was soon killed.
Since then, the family was given the title of Raj Rana and awarded 150 villages, 8 elephants and 80 to 100 servants.
Singh now lives in Udaipur and is involved in litigation regarding the ownership of the Devigarh hotel.
“I have a 25 percent share in the Delwara Palace, better known as the Devigarh hotel, where the shooting of the film Eklavvya took place. That keeps me occupied a lot,” says Singh. “But horses are my first love and polo is foremost on my mind.”
Singh is also writing a book — Training Thoroughbred Horses — which will be completed and published in three years’ time.
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