Surat, Feb. 11: Who says that the Bhaijaan of Bollywood does not face rejection? Salman Khan's offer of a whopping Rs 2 crore for a rare-breed horse has been rejected by the owner. It turns out that the owner of the horse - Saqab - is actually a tough nut to crack as the Bollywood actor is not the only person, who got rejected.
A year ago, Punjab's Badal family had offered Rs 1.11 crore to buy Saqab, but received a negative response. The reason behind Saqab's popularity is the fact that he is, as mentioned earlier, one of its kind in the country and has its match only in two horses in the world - one in the US and other in Canada.
Saqab can walk with a speed of 43kmph in clean Ravel walk and can keep the same position throughout so that it doesn't disturb the rider. This is something unheard of in the history of horses.
Owner Siraj Pathan bought this horse when it was five-year-old paying Rs 14.5 lac in Rajasthan's Palotara Fair. Pathan is the third buyer of this horse. Initially known as Tufan, and then as Pavan, it is now named Saqab - "horse that was ridden by Prophet Muhammad".
Originally a Sindhi breed, Saqab's mother was of Pakistani-Sindhi breed, whereas its father was from Rajasthani-Sutharwali breed. It has won 19 straight races and is yet to lose. However, it has never run in competitive races on the race course.