With just seven members of the Classic crop having come out on top in 35 renewals of the Stayers' Cup, Gr.1, it is not surprising to see just one horse born in 2012 accepting to run the race on coming Saturday. That horse is the Golconda Derby, Gr.1 winner King Charles (Kingda Ka - Laserre). The eleven horse field has an average rating of 105.9, a bit better than the average of 103.33 of recent runnings. However, once again it is the high -- and unsubstantiated ratings of horses like Tintinnabulation (124), Aventus (120) and Supreme Minstrel (117) -- which have boosted this year's average.

King Charles has bagged the Golconda Double of the 2000 Guineas and the Derby. In the former race, he beat Sea Lord, Kolors and Victorindiafoxtrot while he put it across Blazing Touch, Mogadishu and Let There Be Light when winning the Derby. None of those horses have played any meaningful part in the Classics at other centres. The two Malakpet Classics for the fillies were won by Intelligence and Heather and both of them failed to shine on their next starts; Intelligence at Bangalore and Heather at Mumbai. The form of the Hyderabad Classics is hence hugely suspect. That, no doubt, is no fault of King Charles for he could only beat what opposed him and he did that efficiently if not spectacularly. He is bred to stay on his dam's side. Laserre is a half-sister to Zurbaran (Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1, McDowell Indian St. Leger, Gr.1, etc), Artois (Nanoli Stud Pune Derby, Gr.1) and a full-sister to Highland Ghillie (dam of Cabriolet, Berlusconi and Reynolds, all whom have placed in black-type races at 2800 m. or more). He has greater scope for improvement than his older rivals and ought to run a decent race. To win, however, he will have to pull out something extra special.

Though not very highly rated, Agostini (Burden of Proof - Glorious Beauty) strikes just the right kind of chords. He won the Bangalore Derby, Gr.1 in his time, picked up the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Gr.3 on his last start over 2800 m. and is the only horse to have beaten Quasar over the last twelve months. His dam is three-parts sister to Autonomy who won the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1 and later the Byculla Club Cup over 2800 m. Agostini is bred on the Burden of Proof-Razeen cross which has already given a previous Stayers' Cup winner in the shape of Arabian Prince  The Mallya camp has generally been spot on in recent times in selecting the right targets for its horses and in letting Angel Dust carry the standard in the Invitation Cup it appears to be following the dictum that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

A year older than Agostini, Toroloco (Rebuttal - Miss Beautiful) has raced just 25 times against the 31 starts to the credit of the son of Burden of Proof. He has, however, notched 10 wins whereas as Agostini has two less. Like Agostini, though, Toroloco won the Bangalore Derby, Gr.1 and is also a winner of his last start at Bangalore which was over 2400 m., a distance beyond which he is yet to score. Quite consistent, he has run some good races and should come into contention. His younger stable-mate Wind Stream (Steinbeck - Artwork) won the Bangalore 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 in his year and then decided to go straight for the McDowell Signature Premier Indian Derby, Gr.1 where he ran second to Super Storm after a troubled passage. He has placed in St. Leger's at Bangalore and Pune and was beaten in the last stride in the Stayers' Cup, Gr.1 at Hyderabad by Astapi. He was perhaps given a clear-the-cobwebs run in Toroloco's race and should strip fitter on Saturday. His connections may be heartened by the fact that the previous two Stayers' Cups at Guindy have been won by sons of Steinbeck, Alameda and Star of Windsor, both posting new track records.

The Mumbai duo of seven year-olds, Rodeo (Home Affairs - Rainbow Vision) and Okavango(Major Impact - Another Time),  are a pair of confirmed stayers, though neither has won a black-type race. Sanjay Kolse's ward Rodeo won the Suresh Mahindra Trophy, the longest race in the country at 3200 m., as a four year-old. It was the fifth win of his first year's of racing and he has added three more brackets since then. He seemed to be falling off a bit but won the Byculla Club Cup over 2800 m. on his last start early in January where he beat Okavango by a shade over five lengths when getting 1.5 kgs. Okavango himself won the Byculla Club Cup in 2014. However, that was over two years ago and he hasn't won since then. Stamina is unlikely to be a problem for them while whether they have the sufficient class to win a Gr.1 contest at the age of seven is the vexing question.

Tintinnabulation (Intikhab - Tourmalet) won the Golconda Derby, Gr.1, Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1 and Bangalore St. Leger, Gr.2 (beating Wind Stream) in his Classic year. Like his contemporary Machiavellianism, trainer L.V.R. Deshmukh has kept him going and he still runs a decent race even if it is over a year since he was last led in. He is a game customer and will give his best. He is being accompanied from Malakpet by Aventus (Ace - Starboard). It took the connections of Aventus a little over three years and 36 starts confined to a mile or less to realize that their horse needed a longer trip. He was then sent over 2400 m. and he won his ninth career race. That was his last start and he has earned a nomination for the Stayers' Cup on its basis. His dam was the last foal of her dam Star of the Stage, a daughter of Nureyev. With Mr. Prospector and Nuryev close up in his pedigree, Aventus has plenty of speed but the further dam line is Classic and stamina-orientated.

Ancient Title (Ikhtyar out of the Indian Oaks winner Estonia), a nomination of the Mysore Race Club, beat Toroloco over 200 m. in Mysore. Thereafter, trainer Irfan Ghatala's trainee turned the tables comprehensively when the two met again in the Stayers Trial Stakes over 2400 m. last month in Bangalore. In that race, Toroloco beat Azzuro by a short-head with Native Force third and Wind Stream fourth. The main B.T.C. nominations for the Stayers' Cup, Gr.1 were Angel Dust, Torolocco and Azzuro. Angel Dust runs the Invitation while Azzuro is being kept warm for the C.N. Wadia Gold Cup, Gr.2 over 2400 m. at Mumbai. The two vacancies thus created have been filled by the reserves Native Force and Wind Stream. Agostini, of course, is nominated by R.C.T.C.

PAST THE POST

What this year's Invitation Cup week-end races will provide is the barometer of Guindy racing. That Authority's Stayers' Cup nomination is Supreme Minstrel who is rated 117. How he fares will tell us more of the depth of racing at India's oldest race-course.