The sad interruption to Admiralty's career due to a tendon problem has made it a very open race. Dr. Vijay Mallya's colt, unbeaten in three races, would have been the top-rated competitor had he participated. That, by itself, does not mean that he was past the post. In the last five years, two top-rated colts, Sun Kingdom and Be Safe, both favourites, have gone on to win the race. In the other three years, the winner turned out to be a runner who was neither the best supported nor the highest rated. Admiralty (Admiralofthefleet - Caprese) had warmed up for Sunday's race with a workmanlike victory in the Karnataka Juvenile Million, Gr.2 and the winner of that race has generally gone on to garner more laurels. Admiralty is unlikely to race till the winter season. In his absence, the race becomes more interesting and intriguing.

The mantle of the highest rated colt in the field now falls on Multitude (Multidimensional - Haedi) who has four wins from five starts. After reeling off a comfortable hat-trick at Kolkata, he was taken to Mahalakshmi for the Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million, Gr.1 in which he finished a fair fourth. This month, he took on older horses and showed resolution as wore down Equine Love over 1200 m., a distance which was probably too short for him as well as the runner-up. Albeit, he was getting weight from Equine Love. Multitude's half-sisters, Halle (by China Visit) and Frankanella (by Razeen), are both winners with Halle scoring over 1400 m. and Frankanella posting two wins over a mile. Haedi herself is a winner over 2400 m. while the next dam Star Express won over 2350 m. in France in Maktoum colours. There is speed in further generations but a mile appears well within the compass of Multitude.  Majority of trainer Vijay Singh's 37 Classic wins have come at Calcutta but his very first Classic winner was Brave Dancer who won this race in 1987. 

Authoritarian (Holy Roman Emperor out of the Groom Dancer mare Scent) is a winner of both his starts and thus the only runner who is still to taste a defeat.His sire has had more Classic winners in India than any other stallion standing abroad and that in itself is a big plus even though his dam line is rather modest.  Authoritarian is also the only participant without a run during the current season. He was third in a mock race behind  Nostalgic Memories - third in the Bangalore Fillies' Championship Stakes, Gr.1 last Sunday and Valiant Spirit. Like Myrtlewood who failed to sparkle in the Fillies' race last Sunday, Authoritarian has been subjected four work-outs during the last week. Every horse is an individual in his own right but as in the case of the filly, the preparation is not quite the norm.  He will have his supporters who may like to take cognizance of the fact that the stable - which also fields China One - has been firing at a significantly lower strike rate over the last twelve months.

The China Visit filly Star Formation finished ahead of a host of better fancied runners in the Fillies' race last Sunday. The son of that Usha Stud stallion running here is Auriga (out of Calcutta Oaks, Gr.3 winner Grand Madame) who, after winning on his debut, has been twice second in graded races. First, he was bested by Authoritarian in the Garuda Bangalore Juvenile Million, Gr.3 at level weights in the winter  and on his last start he finished behind Admiralty in the Karnataka Juvenile Million, Gr.2 when receiving 3 kgs. from the winner. On both the occasions, he was exactly a length and a quarter behind the winner. This branch of Gondolette family may not be an elite Usha Stud source but has produced seven Classic winners including Auriga's grandam Averoff who won the Fillies Championship in 1999 [then run as the Kingfisher Fillies Trial Stakes].

Phoenix Tower and Multidimensional were stablemates at the late Henry Cecil's Warren Place yard in their racing days and the former was a higher rated horse. Both came to India and started covering from the 2009 season. While Multidimensional has already sired 10 individual Classic winners, Phoenix Tower is still looking for his first though he has had winners aplenty.  The Manjri Stud stallion is represented here by  Phoenix Tiger (out of  Tigresse Noir) who came unbeaten to Bangalore but failed to overhaul Ostwind on the track or displace him in the Stewards' Room.  Given that Phoenix Tiger was giving weight to Ostwind in that race, he comes out the better of the two on the bare result. His dam, a daughter of speed influence Senure, won 4 races from 1200 m. to a mile.  Phoenix Tower is schooled by Dallas Todywalla whose Ageless failed to reproduce her earlier form last Sunday. Todywalla is very proficient with juveniles in their early days but their failure to shine in big races has been a bit perplexing.

As in the Fillies' race, trainer S. Padmanabhan will be double handed with Desert God (Burden of Proof - Running Flame) and Valiant Spirit (Multidimensional - Khalila). At the Acceptances stage last Thursday, Miss Adler appeared to hold an edge over Nostalgic Memories but jockey bookings revealed the correct pecking order. Of his two colts, it would appear that Desert God - a half-brother to  Borsalino and full-brother to Sur La Tete and Torch Bearer is the "chosen one". After all, he is bred by him, runs in his wife's colours and was a respectable third behind Admiralty and Auriga in the Karnataka Juvenile Million, Gr.2 last month. Padmanabhan's  runners invariably come on after a run and the form of that race has been boosted by victories of Eternal Flame and Heaven Is Here who scored on Sunday after finishing behind Desert God. Valiant Spirit missed the board on his last start  where Ostwind, a notable absentee here, was the winner. He had won on his debut in the winter season. He is relatively inexperienced and the monsoon plums may be his real targets. It is after a long time that Padmanabhan is training Ms. Ameeta Mehra's horses and that could be an incentive to provide a good winner early. As with the Fillies' race, final declarations may give a clue.

The average rating of the field is a shade over 50 and that is lower than average of 53.4 for the last  five years.  During the same period, the winner has been rated 60 or above on four occasions, the exception being Alaindair who won off a rating of 47. The field includes one 'got-abroad 'who is unbeaten but without a race during the current term; three maidens (Good Prospect, Ravelnation and Surnaturel) and  two last start winners (Multitude and Southern Surprise). There is not only no course and distance winner in the fray but none of the fourteen runners has a win over a mile. Exactly half the field comes from Usha and Poonawalla farms.

No trainer in India has, probably, won as many Classics with start to finish tactics as Padmanabhan. It appears more than likely that Desert God will hit the front - as his Indian-born siblings were wont to, steal a march at the top of the straight and then attempt to hold on till the wire. It is good tactic with a fit  horse because it avoids traffic snares and finds out chinks in those who are a bit under-cooked. It requires a jockey with a good judgement of pace. For Desert God's rivals, it will be essential to have the front runner in their sights and be in a position to cover his move to pinch a few lengths. 

PAST THE POST

The Fillies' race had as many as half a dozen daughters of Arazan running and one of them, Eternal Flame, duly grabbed the honours.The  Freshman sire has half the number here and if one of them is to hoist the winning flag, it will be at long odds.  Arazan had 47 colts in his first crop and only 36 fillies so a logical question would be whether he is a better sire of fillies. These are very early days and further results need to be watched carefully. They may confirm the initial perception or the subsequent results may swing the balance the way of the colts. In racing, one has to constantly update and revise initial impressions rather than be didactic.

For  Valiant Spirit's dam Khalila, Usha Stud paid a whopping US$200,000 at the Keeneland Sale in 2010  to make her one of the dearest mares imported to India. Both Multitude and Valiant Spirit are sons of Multidimensional and the first named, out of Haedi who cost a mere 9,000 Euros, is certain to be better backed on Sunday.

This race hasn't seen too many close finishes and the camera has been consulted just five  times in 56 renewals. Red Cockade (1975) and Astounding (1992) won their races by a distance but the fastest time was recorded by Cape Dance in 1994 when he stopped the clock at 1.36.5. With six winners, Pesi Shroff heads the list of winning jockeys but he hasn't saddled a winner of the race yet. He has no runner this year so his wait will continue.