The very first Bangalore Derby was run in 1962 as the Kunigal Derby. The distance was only a mile and it was won by Mount Everest who went on to win the inaugural Indian Turf Invitation Cup at Mumbai.  Kingfisher has been sponsoring the race since 1988 when the name was changed to the Kingfisher Derby Bangalore to distinguish it from the Bangalore Derby run in the winter which was earlier called the Arc de Triomphe. Over the years, the race has developed into a top class pointer for the winter plums. Six winners of the race have gone on subsequently to win the Indian Derby, three have annexed the Indian Turf Invitation Cup while nine have bagged the Derby-Invitation double. 

This year's renewal has been blighted by injuries to several top colts who will be missing from the line-up on Sunday. The unbeaten Admiralty was the first to bow out with tendon problems; the same affliction meant that Ostwind, too, went out of the reckoning; the Bangalore Colts' Championship Stakes, Gr. 1 winner Phoenix Tiger - beaten earlier by Ostwind suffered an injury during the running of that race to his near hind leg to rule him out while Multitude's connections have decided to skip the Derby and wait for other races. The absence of these four top colts means that the field loses much gloss. 

The fillies' and colts' races run earlier in June were once called "Trials". And excellent trials they proved to be. In 53 years, the Derby Bangalore has been won by a winner of fillies' or colts' race on 26 occasions. The strike rate is even more remarkable for the last ten years with the two races providing seven winners, a better ratio than favourites who have won five times. With Phoenix Tiger an absentee, Eternal Flame (Arazan - Yutai),  the Bangalore Fillies' Championship Stakes, Gr.1 winner, emerges clearly as the one to beat and ought to be the favourite when the odds are opened.

Owned by Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy, Eternal Flame is trained by S. Ganapathy who seems to have recovered his mojo for the stable is in good form though Be Safe's abject display on Sunday overshadows that. Like Alaindair and Be Safe in the two previous years, Eternal Flame is the top rated contender in the field and will be seeking to emulate Set Alight, the last filly to complete the Fillies'-Derby double. Her victory last month was eye catching. Tucked away in the mid-bunch, it looked as if she would be hard pressed to obtain a clear run. But the front runners parted leaving her an open path in the centre and she stormed through to spreadeagle the field winning by a shade over five lengths. Her instant acceleration and the margin of victory make it hard to envisage another filly overtaking her and as she faces what are essentially B League colts, her chances must be rosy.  She is by a promising first crop sire in Arazan out of the Golconda Oaks, Gr.2 winner Yutai (full-sister to Eveready Calcutta Derby, Gr.1 winner Moon Forest), a daughter of Razeen; she has twice won over a mile whereas only one of her rivals has a victory over that distance and she is the only Gr.1 winner in the field.  Admittedly, she lacks the aura that surrounded Set Alight and Be Safe when they went into this race and won it comprehensively. Besides, the track tattle suggests that of late she was been wont to tear away in her workouts and that is a factor to be kept in mind. 

No horse is past the winning post till the wire is crossed and the white cone is hoisted. So before homing on to the prospective favourite, it is worth having a look at those who might upset her applecart. The connections of Auriga (China Visit - Grande Madame) have parted with Rs. 16,80,00 to supplement him in the race. The Sriram Komandur trained colt has earned his place in the line-up because he has already earned more than the final entry fee forked out. He has been the runner-up in his last three starts which were all graded races. He found one better in Authoritarian in the winter; Admiralty was too good for him on his first start this term and then he came up against Phoenix Tiger who was given a splendid ride by Colm O'Donoghue. He has certainly been hitting the bar but it's the one in the back of the net that counts. China Visit's progeny often takes its aptitude from the dam and Grand Madame, a winner of Calcutta Oaks, Gr.3, is a full-sister to Star Luminary who won the Poonawalla Bangalore Derby, Gr.1 and Bangalore Oaks, Gr.2 and comes from a staying line. Suraj Narredu was lined up to take the ride but when he took the colt out for a spin on Saturday, Auriga dumped him unceremoniously on the ground. A riding boy was then asked to take over but met the same fate! So one hopes that Suraj Narredu rides him on Sunday he is in his good books.

There are two links between the filly and the colt. When Admiralty won the Kanataka Juvenile Million, Gr.2 in May, Auriga was second and Eternal Flame fourth almost eight lengths behind. The filly was giving the colt 6.5 kgs whereas on Sunday she will be receiving 1.5 kgs. Even novice handicappers will be able work that equation out but they will do well to remember that when the margin between two horses is more than 3 to 4 lengths, deductions can be misleading. The other fact is that though Auriga finished over five lengths behind Phoenix Tiger, he clocked a better time than Eternal Flame when she won her race. This is another loaded statistic because the pentrometer reading on the day Eternal Flame won was 4.7 while it was 3.5 when the day of the colts' race was run. 

Authoritarian (Holy Roman Emperor - Scent), bred at Lumbini Stud, made a good impression during the winter winning both his races the second last of which was the Garuda Bangalore Juvenile Million, Gr.3. In that race he beat Auriga, Flamboyance and Nostalgic Memories. A bout of fever in mid-May interrupted his preparation for the Bangalore Colts' Championship Stakes, Gr.1 in which he finished midfield in the seventh position and was not given a hard race. At his best, he has the credentials to take a hand in the finish but the question remains whether he is back to his best.

Second to Eternal Flame in the Bangalore Fillies' Championship Stakes, Gr.1 was Star Formation (China Visit - Prevalence). Albeit, she was well behind the winner. She is reported to be working brilliantly but being by China Visit out of a speedy dam she may find herself short of stamina. Prevalence won 8 races but none beyond a mile. Retired to stud, her six foals are all winners and have won 23 races between them.  The hope for Star Formation is that while five of her siblings never won beyond a mile her full-sister Ave Maria posted five of her nine wins from 1800 m. to 2200 m. at Hyderabad. The Bangalore track configuration means that it is possible for a miler to win the summer Derby; as such the stamina question needs to be viewed in that context.

Another filly working well is the bred-in-the-purple Sacred Fire (Multidimensional - Psychic Flame), A winner over a mile at Mahalakshmi on her second start, she was  two lengths behind Eternal Flame over the same distance in the Forbes Breeders' Juvenile Fillies' Championship, Gr.3 and looked as if she needed a longer trip. She didn't travel too well to Bangalore. In the Bangalore Fillies' Championship Stakes, Gr.1 she was far from ready and yet was sighted briefly at the top of the straight to eventually finish sixth. She is said to have regained her coat and her workouts suggest an improvement in her condition. She may be seen in better light in the winter and the feeling is that this race is too stern a test a bit too soon. Pedigree-wise she can be compared to Eternal Flame. Both are daughters of a grandson of Danzig and their dams are three-parts sisters. Her trainer Altamash Ahmed won this race two years ago with Alaindair.

Trainer S. Padmanabhan fields the filly Nostalgic Memories (Arazan - Change Of Luck) and his own-bred colt Desert God (Burden of Proof - Running Flame). The former was a late third in the Fillies' race and as her dam - who, incidentally, ran sixth and was the favourite for this race when called Gypsy Magic - is a winner of the Casino Royale Indian St. Leger, Gr.1 so the distance is not a concern. She was well beaten in a recent track workout by Valiant Spirit who is owned by Ms. Ameeta Mehra. The doyenne of Usha Stud has Sacred Fire running in her own colours and owns a part share in Auriga and the lady felt that it would be prudent to be more patient with Valiant Spirit and give him time to mature. Desert God was denied his preferred front running style in the Colts' race by Phoenix Tiger and finished just off the board. Allowed the freedom of going to the front, he can be in this race for a long way but will face stern challenges in the run-in. His got-abroad half-brother by Choisir won this race in 2012.

The fourteen-strong field has an average rating of 50.8 which is much less than the average rating of 58.6 of the previous five runnings. It includes two 'got-abroads' and as many as five maidens including Brilliant Cut who has raced just once. There is no course and distance winner and no contender who has raced over this trip previously. There are three Arazans running and two each by Multidimensional. Burden of Proof and China Visit.

PAST THE POST

One of the most memorable renewals of this race took place on 21 July 1974. There were fourteen runners -- same number as this year and the Bangalore Colts' Trial Stakes winner Royal Double was the favourite at 13/4 and when Nicky Bird sent him to the front just before the final bend, the Calcutta crowd present at the track was in raptures. It is was a softish going and though the favourite was well ahead of the field, he began to tire visibly and back pedal as the field approached the stands. He was passed by another Calcutta runner, Mauritius Pearl, who took up the running. At this stage Skyline, who had been tardily away and was last in the first half of the race, had improved steadily along the rails but had nowhere to go. Karan Singh, switched Skyline to the outside and he moved like a horse possessed to get to Mauritius Pearl and the pair flashed past the post so close together that no one was sure who had won. A photo was called for and The Judge took his time to announce a dead-heat, the first in any Derby in India. Mauritius Pearl (M. Shafiq) was at 25/1 while Karan Singh's mount Skyline could be backed at 15/1. Both, Mauritius Pearl and Skyline, had raced in Calcutta during the earlier winter season.

The victory of Mauritius Pearl (Mighty Sparrow - Casbah) was a triumph for the Gujadhur family. The colt was bred by the Gujadhurs at Bhopal Stud, the horse raced in their colours and was saddled by B. Gujadhur. In his previous start, the colt had dropped his jockey Ronnie Butfoy at the start and raced riderless.  He was a maiden when he started in the Derby and in Butfoy's absence was ridden by Shafiq. Shafiq was a strong rider, an Aslam Kader of his days in many ways. Mauritius Pearl remained in training for two more years and now trained by Mac Galstaun  won five of his eight races, all at distances of a mile or less but he never raced at Calcutta afterwards. He ended his racing career with a hat-trick, two wins at Bangalore followed by the Guindy Gold Cup,  then a very prestigious mile race. His dam, the 'got-abroad' filly Casbah, was a good broodmare, for she also produced the Calcutta Oaks winner Mauritius Belle for the Gujadhurs. Mighty Sparrow, a son of the great "Grey Ghost" as Native Dancer was called, came to  Bhopal Stud after Babbanio had passed away. The Mighty Sparrows were very popular in Calcutta.

Skyline (Prince Pradeep - Penny Rock) was owned by the Bala family and trained by Lawrence Fownes who was later to ply his trade in Hong Kong. He had won two races before the Derby but none after it. In fact, he failed to place in his five post-Derby starts. Yeravada Stud's homebred Indian Triple Crown winner Prince Pradeep then ranked - with Rock of Gibraltar - as the most sought after stallion in India. Skyline's dam was a Roccamare half-sister to the great Commanche. Skyline was retired as a stallion to the Bala Stud near Mohali but failed to achieve conspicuous success.

When the horses were examined in the paddock after the dead-heat, it was observed that Mauritius Pearl had lost a shoe. Could the loss of a shoe have made the difference of a whisker which could have enabled the grey to win the race ?