The Calcutta Derby has always been the first of the winter Derbies.  This year's race will be the 49th renewal though it is well to remember that the first nine runnings were contested over 2000m.  When the distance was upped to 2400m. in 1968, Mossy Bear easily accounted for Narrator and Gold Bond. In recent years, a new trend has emerged with outstation challengers winning six of the last eight renewals. It started with Abs Fabs in 2009 with Bruckner, Xisca, In The Spotlight, Quasar and Desert God following up. Trainer Arjun Mangalorkar, who saddled Abs Fabs, would hardly have foreseen his trail-blazing venture when he came to Calcutta after the filly had run second to Icebreaker in the Bangalore Oaks, Gr.2. Till then, the race had been won with monotonous regularity by a runner in the Khaitan gold and red silks, the tedium disturbed at times by gold and brown livery of the late Dr. Ramaswamy and once by Dr. Vijay Mallya's Arabian Rose.

The field for Sunday's race would surely have been a round dozen had Whomakestherules, the winner of Calcutta 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 and Calcutta Monsoon Derby, Gr.2 in his previous starts, not suffered a hairline tibial fracture. In the eleven that will now report to the starter, the fillies outnumber the colts and that is a rarity in a Derby. The three outstation challengers -- Accolade, Hall of Famer and Silver Beauty -- are the only Classic winners in the contest and naturally enough head the ratings. The form holding good, the winner ought to emerge from those three.

Accolade (Burden of Proof - Alnasreya), was well beaten by Whomakestherules in the Calcutta 2000 Guineas, Gr.2.  Before that, Dr. Mallya's colt had won the Kingfisher Ultra Pune Derby, Gr.1, Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million, Gr.1 and Deccan Colts' Championship Stakes, Gr.3. He had travelled to Malakpet for the Deccan Derby, Gr.1 but was withdrawn when he refused to be stalled. In the Pune Derby, he collared the leader Vulcan at the top of the straight but found it difficult to pass him till the other horse came a cropper. In the Calcutta 2000, too, he drew upsides of the winner but regressed when Whomakestherules kept plugging on. Accolade's full-brother Acclaimed is best at a mile or less and that does not inspire confidence about the colt's stamina quotient though there are a number of examples of full siblings exhibiting contrasting distance aptitudes. His class alone may enable him to put across his two main rivals who are both fillies.

Hall of Famer (Win Legend - Elusive Trust) is following in the footsteps of Abs Fabs and Bruckner who came to Calcutta only for the Derby.  The grey filly must be a hardy sort. In November, she went from Bangalore to Hyderabad and won the Golconda 1000 Guineas, Gr.2. After returning to her home base at Bangalore, she forayed to Mahalakshmi for the Gitanjali Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1 where she was a head second to upset winner Mrs. Patmore. Back to Bangalore and now on to Calcutta. It is hard to remember a horse doing so much travelling in less than two months. Her three wins have all been at a mile and that could be her ideal distance. Win Legend is not a stamina influence but melds well with mares possessing staying credentials as in the case of Angel Dust and Fly Like The Wind. Hall of Famer traces to the Usha Stud mare Amber Forest. This family in India was brilliant at a mile but a bit suspect at longer distances. Having said that, it needs to be added that families evolve. Initially, the best runners from this family tended to be fillies. However, the last two Classic winners were both colts -- Snowscape and Snowdrift -- who won this very race to thwart the raiders.  Miss Freeze, the third dam of Snowscape and Snowdrift, and Trustworthy, the third dam of Hall of Famer, are full-sisters. Besides, Elusive Trust, is an Elusive Pimpernel half-sister to Golconda Oaks, Gr.2 winner Gisele. Snowscape and Snowdrift won the Calcutta Derby with a higher Dosage Index than Hall of Famer. The greatest asset of Hall of Famer, though, is that her trainer is an astute tactician and in David Allan she has an admirable jockey to execute the tactics planned.

Silver Beauty (Aussie Rules - Maharanee), when given the rein in the Calcutta Oaks, Gr.3, left her opponents in the cold and it hard to imagine any of the four locally trained fillies turning the tables on her unless they were keeping the powder dry for Sunday's race.  Her sire is a Classic winning miler while her damsire was a speed horse. Silver Beauty -- she is definitely a grey, by the way -- traces to Zariba and it is a tap-root renowned for stamina. Sadler's Wells and Shirley Heights in the damline add to Silver Beauty's stamina quotient while being a course and distance winner adds to her prospects. Accolade and Hall of Famer, however, represent a far classier opposition than any she has vanquished so far. The winners of the three Classics run in Calcutta this year have been saddled by Malesh Narredu and all three piloted by his nephew Suraj. Suraj Narredu was also aboard Battalion in the Bangalore 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 and Aika Aika Aika in the South India 1000 Guineas, Gr.2.

Ambries (Burden of Proof - Abdicate) is the least experienced of runners in the field and hence not fully exposed. She was at the tail-end of the Calcutta Oaks field till the bend but finished on well to take the runner-up spot behind Silver Beauty. She was conceived at Kunigal Stud but born at Ruia Stud near Shirval. Serendine (Multidimensional - Flowersoftheforest) was less than a length behind Ambries in the Calcutta Oaks. She is by a proven Classic sire out of a mare who won the Golconda Derby, Gr.1 and Golconda Oaks, Gr.2. She won't be lacking in stamina but needs to improve substantially to have a say.

The average field rating for this year's race is 60.5 which is well below 75.3, the average rating of recent years. Hall of Famer's last run was at Mumbai and after that race, the Handicapper had her placed at 86, two points below the winner Mrs. Patmore. Neither Hall of Famer nor Mrs. Patmore have run since then so it is a bit mystifying to see her rated 91 in Calcutta.

PAST THE POST

The first trainer in India to have an All-India vision was the legendary R.R. Byramji. An Indian racing quiz question, "Which winter Derby eluded R.R. Byramji ?" would probably cause quite a few heads to be scratched but in the context of the question it becomes a no-brainer. Yes. Rashid Byramji does not have a Calcutta Derby winner to his name !

That is true as far as records go. However, it needs a bit of an elaboration. In July 1973, Byramji won two races with Topmost during the Bangalore Summer Season. Topmost was owned by the Calcutta-based Mr. D.K. Das and Byramji sent the horse to Calcutta. The present day rules of long-distance training were not in force then and so Topmost was shown as being under the charge of G. Chandrasekhar. In Calcutta, Topmost raced thrice, winning the Edward Benthall Cup, the Calcutta 2000 Guineas and the Calcutta Derby. He then returned to Byramji at Mumbai and continued his winning ways bagging the Indian Derby and the Invitation Cup.

Oakmead, Arabian Rose and Altimara were under Rashid Byramji in their first year but were transferred to Darius Byramji for their Classic year and the son gets the credit for having won the Calcutta Derby with them.