The 75th running of the Indian St. Leger -- and the 30th at Pune -- is scheduled for this Sunday and has drawn a field of 8 runners. The eight renewals at Pune this millennium have all had a Gr.1 winner in the field. Not only is the Sunday's field devoid of a Gr.1 winner but it has just a solitary Classic winner in Sana so it is understandable that the average field rating this year -- 93 -- is much lower than the average -- 101.9 --  of recent years. The field may lack in numeric quality but it should be a very competitive race as winner finding is tricky. After a spell of dry weather, the rains have returned to Pune and if the wet forecast for Sunday comes true, another dimension could come into play.

The last seven runnings have revealed a very clear pattern. The St. Leger winner has won either the Idar Gold Trophy, Gr.3 or the President of India Gold Cup, Gr.1 on their previous start. Desert God, who won the big race at Malakpet, won't be in the fray as this is a race reserved for the 2014 crop.

However, Sana (Multidimensional - Yana), the winner of the Idar Gold Trophy, Gt.3, is very much a contender. She may well head the betting market though it is hard to see her starting at cramped odds. She is full-sister to Mathaiyus who won this race last year in a record time. She has finished ahead of Selfie Star (Idar Gold Trophy, Gr.3), Reunion (Bangalore St. Leger, Gr.2) and Kambaku (Maharaja's Cup, Gr.2) in their previous encounters. Dancing Dragon (Phoenix Tower - Romantic Heights) beat Sana by two and a half lengths In the Maharaja's Cup, Gr.2 but the filly is better off by 3 kgs. on Sunday as per the terms of the race. Sana did produce a terrific late burst to lift the Idar Gold Trophy narrowly from handicapper Vulcan and Selfie Star (Excellent Art - Maharanee), a suspect stayer at this level. She was expected to win more comfortably. She has now been ridden twice by Srinath and he will be better acquainted with her to avoid a last grasp effort. 

Dancing Dragon's spree of five straight wins came to an end in the Governor's Cup, Gr.3 when Kambaku (Win Legend - Star of the Crop) beat him easily. At level weights in the Maharaja's Cup Gr.2 over 2200 m., Dancing Dragon had beaten Kambaku by five and a half lengths. Over 2400 m. of Governor's Cup, Kambaku, getting 4 kgs. from Dancing Dragon, reversed the verdict to win by three and a quarter lengths.  As the distance of his races has increased, the ease and the winning margin of Dancing Dragon's earlier victories has decreased. He is clearly ill-at-ease over longer trips though he has a solid dam line. His grandam, who won this race in 1988, is also the third dam of In The Spotlight. The same can be said about Kambaku. His dam Star of the Crop, grandam Follow The Star and the third dam Chaitanya Ratham are all Classic winners over 2400 m. This is the family, among others, of Indian Derby winners Chaitanya Chakram and Astronomic. Kambaku is owned by Mr. Dilip Thomas who usually names his horses after well known golf courses. Kambaku is named after safari lodges in South Africa's Timbavati Game Reserve. Perhaps, there is a golf course tucked away somewhere in that Reserve. The difference between Dancing Dragon and Kambaku is in their sires. Win Legend has produced more good horses over 2400 m. than Phoenix Tower.

Kambaku is a final entry as is Reunion (Dancing Forever - Ambos). Like Dancing Dragon, Reunion has been a late developer. He was second to Desert God in the President of India Gold Cup, Gr.1 a fortnight ago and has placed in the St. Legers at Bangalore and Chennai. He did match strides with Desert God for a while at Hyderabad but the older horse was pulling away at the end. He is from the immediate family of Golconda Derby winner Roses In Bloom and is a game, genuine customer. His sire Dancing Forever had only a brief innings at Hazara Stud and Reunion represents perhaps his last chance at Classic glory.

The four horses discussed so far are sheltered in yards of trainers who are based away from Pune. Rating wise, the best of the home brigade is Caprisca (Steinbeck - Xisca) who was fancied to give a anxious moments to Sana in the Idar Gold Trophy. That didn't happen and he actually finished last. He was always at the tail-end of the field and the first runner on whom the jockey was seen hard at work. Steinbeck sired two winners of the Stayers' Cup, Gr.1 -- Alameda and Star of Windsor -- while Xisca counts the Bangalore St. Leger, Gr.2 among her eight wins. Caprisca's  pedigree is meant to stay but in his two starts beyond 2000 m., the gelding has finished off-the-board. Genes don't always fall the way we anticipate.

Selfie Star is a winner of a handicap race over 2400 m. but her performance in three Classics that she contested over 2400 m. is only moderate. She comes from a stout family -- that of Epsom Derby winner High-Rise -- but maybe the influence of Excellent Art has diluted some of the stamina genes. It will be shock if either In It To Win It or Saggitarius were to win but the other six runners all have some credentials to hoist the winning flag. The top five runners are within a narrow band of five rating points. Fitness of a runner on the day, how it handles the prevailing going and the way the race is run will be three major factors in deciding the outcome.

PAST THE POST

For a very long time, the Indian St. Leger was run in a time over 3 minutes. In fact, the first sub-3 minute Indian St. Leger came only in 1987 at Pune when the grey Capricorn clocked 2:58.7.  It has always been a sub-3 minute St. Leger in the last seven years that it has been contested at Pune and Mathaiyus won it in 2:53:88 last year which is the fastest time on record.

Mathaiyus was ridden by Y.S. Srinath and it gave the jockey his fourth winner of the race. His record is the best among the current riders and it places him a joint second with Jagdish and Shinde who have also ridden four winners.  At the top of the table is Shamu Chavan with five victories -- Summer Lightning (1950), Commoner (1954), Sunny Downs (1958), Kun Kaan (1959) and Bright Hanovar (1971).

Srinath will be aboard Sana. If Sana wins, it will take Srinath level with Chavan. It will also mean back-to-back victories for full-brother and sister pair of Mathaiyus and Sana. Siblings have a good record in this race. Own Opinion (1979) and Mayapan (1981) were full-brothers. Then we have the trio of Smart Chieftan, Southern Empire and Change of Luck who were also fully related.

In 1989, the Indian St. Leger at Pune was won by Maj. B.P. Singh's filly Pennywise. The going was soft, the filly revelled in it and won easily by half a dozen lengths. Pennywise was trained by Magan Singh Jodha who had started training just that Pune season and Pennywise was his first Classic runner. It was also his only Classic winner. Magan Singh Jodha passed away earlier this week. RIP.