The 54th renewal of the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1 promises to be a keen duel between Desert God, the Champion of the Classic crop and Quasar, the Champion Older Horse. It will be like two gunslingers walking towards each other from the opposite sides of the street amidst mounting tension. One will prevail and be crowned the Horse of the Year. Desert God will be striving to maintain the supremacy of the Classic generation which has held its own even in the last three contests which were open to older horses. The incentive for Quasar will be to become the first horse to win the race twice and thus rewrite history.

The foes are evenly matched if you take their racing records as they stood after the Indian Derby. Desert God has won six races from eleven starts and has only once missed coming on the board. His five black-type wins include three Derbies, he is rated 115 and has earned nearly five crore rupees in stakes. At the same point of time, Quasar had also won six races from one start less, was never off-the-board and had three Derbies against his name. He was rated 108 and his stakes earnings were about 1.5 crore rupees short of the younger horse's tally. Winning the Indian Derby, a higher rating and substantially more stakes show Desert God in a better light but the fact is that Quasar was taken once too often -- and a tad too soon -- to the well, being made to run three Derbies in a space of three weeks; on the other hand, Desert God has been more prudently campaigned restricting himself to just two Derbies, though the gap between the Calcutta Derby and the Indian Derby was a month this year.

Well rested after the Indian Derby last year, Quasar was jumping out of his skin by the time the Invitation Cup came around. Most people would have been at Mahalakshmi and the off-course betting centres to watch the big race and would have missed the live coverage on TV.  There, Aslam Kader, speaking as the horses were in the paddock, was adamant that Quasar was the outstanding horse based on his track-work and that Malesh Narredu's ward would run a very big race. Prophetic words those. Whatever one's views on Quasar winning the Invitation Cup -- or, if you like, Be Safe losing it -- there is no doubt that since then he has proved himself to be a horse of the highest calibre, winning ten of his eleven races and beating Be Safe twice.

Quasar is the highest stakes earner on the Indian Turf today and though that record may not stand if Desert God has an uninterrupted racing career of another twelve months, it entitles the Hazara Stud-bred to much respect. He was to retire to stud after the Indian St. Leger but that decision was soon revised and he has chalked up four more wins since then. There is some talk of his having reached a plateau and being on the decline. Indeed, he may have reached a plateau -- a five year-old is not expected to improve significantly, is he ? -- but the decline is not really evident. Quasar has won more races beyond 2000 m. than some legends like Squanderer, Own Opinion and Elusive Pimpernel.  He is at his best over 2400 m. and further. His last two races were over 2000 m., a distance a bit on the short side for him. In his last three races, he has beaten Shivalik Showers by an increasing margin and he was always conceding 10 kgs. to the runner up -- Azzuro, Booker Jones and The Unicorn -- who was his contemporary age-wise. He was over-weight when he beat Booker Jones 2000 m. in January and still bettered the track record. By the time he ran in the Eclipse, he had shed the extra pounds to indicate that he is being judiciously prepared for the big showdown.

From the moment a horse starts racing, his entire training is geared to making him reach his optimum prowess when the Derby is run. Some fall by the wayside as that journey unfolds through lack of talent or physical problems; some peak before the Derby while some Derby winners still have scope for a bit more improvement. To be considered great, a horse has to prove himself not only against his peers but against older horses and then successfully face the challenge of the younger generation. Quasar has passed the first part of this test. He beat Amazing Grace twice and Alaindair once and the only older horse to finish ahead of him was Agostini in the Governor's Cup, Gr.3 at Bangalore. As Quasar was reported to have bled during the race, he has an excuse. Now, for the first time, he will be taking on younger horses just as Desert God will be up against older generations for the first time. That is what makes the contest fascinating.

Desert God has one unmistakable advantage. He will be receiving 4kgs. from Quasar. This weight difference, for a horse at the zenith of  his development, is all important. In the last 30 runnings of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Gr.1, the classic crop has come out on top 22 times. Desert God's exploits are recent enough and need no elaboration. Like Quasar, he would have been going into the Invitation Cup with a string of six wins but for being third in the Mysore Derby, Gr.1. That race was probably not in his original schedule and to add to that was the fact that he was kept too far back initially. He would probably have won the Indian Derby a lot more comfortably had he got the opening earlier and he would certainly have been spared the excessive whipping for which his jockey was fined. That said, the combination of trainer Padmanabhan and jockey David Allan has the edge over the Narredu father-and-son team associated with Quasar.

Be Safe's victory in the Indian Derby last year can only be described as 'imperious'. Not only did he win in a record time but his winning margin of five and a half lengths was impressive. Even accepting the fact that Tiger Tops and Quasar who followed him home had been subjected to a tiring schedule, Be Safe looked a horse in a different league. Since then, his career graph, like the Sensex and Nifty has been generally on a downward trend. Prima Facie, he seemed on the road to recovery. Then, he was withdrawn on veterinary grounds from a race and yet did a good workout just a couple of days later. It is said that the problem was only urticaria. Be Safe at his best would certainly give anyone a run for the money; gauging whether he is back to his best, though, is not an easy matter.

The enigmatic filly Angel Dust seems to have a particular liking for picking up the season's plums. During the Bangalore summer season, she walked away with the Kingfisher Derby Bangalore, Gr.1. She seemed to have lost her way somewhat after that but bounced back to win the Bangalore Derby, Gr.1 in the winter. The original plan was to retire her to the Kunigal paddocks but she returned from the race in fine fettle so it looked worthwhile to postpone her rendezvous with Burden of Proof or Air Support by a month or so and let take her chance at Guindy. It was there that Dr. Mallya's last Invitation Cup win came in 2001 with Storm Again. Angel Dust has beaten Desert God on the only occasion the two have clashed in the Kingfisher Derby Bangalore, Gr.1.

Dare To Dream lost some lustre when beaten third in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Gr.3 at Calcutta. That trip was perhaps a bit too long for him for he appears to be best at 2000 m., a distance beyond which he is yet to win. There are eight 4YOs in the 13-strong field whose average rating is almost 110, about 5 points higher than the average of the recent past. 

 PAST THE POST

The last time Chennai hosted the Invitation Cup week-end in 2005, new track records were established in three of the four Invitation races. Spectacular Quest won the Maj. P.K. Memorial Super Mile, Gr.1 without bettering the track record set by Adamile in that very race four years earlier in 2001. The abiding memory of 2005 Invitation Cup week-end at Guindy is of a billowing rust coloured cloud following the field. That amply spoke of the track condition and it was no surprise to see records take a beating. On a track like that, most of the winners were those who held a forward position coming into the straight while those who attempted to come from off the pace struggled to make up the leeway.

Some respected and knowledgeable people were at Guindy on the St. Leger  day on a scouting mission and what they observed contradicts some of the reports. The track, according to them, had more weeds than grass; stables for visiting horses were not quite ready though the work was in full swing; there was an acute water shortage and most importantly, there were concerns about the stable security. Hercules had just one day to clean the Augean stables. M.R.C. has had more time on its hands and hopefully by the week-end,most things will be sorted out if not quite hunky dory.