The Calcutta Monsoon Derby is the youngest race in India to carry the 'Derby' tag. It was first run only in 1993 when Too Hot To Touch became the first horse to get his name on the scroll of honour. This Sunday's renewal will be the 25th, a small but significant landmark. The race was awarded graded status in 2010. That was the year when Pesi Shroff-trained Alice Springs  won the race.  In 2013,  the  race was upgraded to Gr.2. It was postponed by three days due to heavy rains and Argiano defeated his six rivals.

The comparative remoteness of Kolkata meant that for many years the race remained very much a local affair. The brothers, Bharath and Vijay Singh have made the most of it and have so far scooped 15 victories in 24 runnings with the former a point ahead of his brother. Darius Byramji's Gloriosa was the first outstation contestant to triumph and in subsequent years three others -- Alice Springs, Tiger Tops and Whomakestherules, all Western India based -- have been successful. It looked as if this year we would once again be a local affair till Peluche (Phoenix Tower - Lost in Thought) arrived from Bangalore to throw his hat in the ring as a final entry.

Peluche -- that's Spanish for a stuffed toy, usually a teddy bear -- is owned jointly by Mr. N. Chandrashekar Rai and the Mistrys of Manjri Stud. The fact that the connections have decided to travel their horse nearly 2,000 kms. and chipped in with a final entry fee of Rs. 6,75,000 says that the gelding is in Kolkata for something more serious than just having a look at the Victoria Memorial. Peluche has three wins from seven starts and he has never been off the board. The highlights of his career so far are running a close to third to Star Superior in the winter and upsetting Isn't She Lovely on his last start at Mysore. He has yet to race beyond a mile.

His dam Lost In Thought, in foal to Haatef, was acquired by Anthony Stroud Bloodstock in 2010 for a paltry  5,000 gns. Lost In Thought, trained by Criquette Head-Maarek in France, did not place in her three starts in Mr. Khalid Abdullah's colours. Two of those three starts were beyond 2000 m. She has been a regular breeder in India with Daydreamer, a full-brother Peluche, a minor winner in Tamil Nadu. This is the well established Juddmonte family of Commander In Chief, Rainbow Quest, Warning and Win Legend, the popular and successful stallion standing at Dashmesh Stud. Peluche will be a big player if he has traveled well.

Peluche and the local colt Shivansh (Top Class - Immortal Story) are the only two runners with a rating higher than the average field rating which is a lowly 57. On his last start, Shivansh slammed Multiglory, a consistent horse, by almost seven lengths over a mile. Subsequently, Multiglory finished much closer to another good and consistent horse in Namid. Three wins and a third from four career starts so far place Shivansh at the top of the ratings. The top-rated horse has won this race four times in last ten years. Top Class stands at Mukteshwar Stud. A former member of Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle team, he has a superb pedigree that was not really sustained by his own performance. He has been a useful stallion so far in India though he is still searching for his first Classic winner. Immortal Story, the unraced dam of Shivansh, is a half-sister to Nanoli Stud Pune Derby, Gr.1 winner Versaki.

Shivansh is one of the four runners that trainer Vijay Singh will saddle for the race on Sunday and the stable pecking order will need to be known. The other three Vijay Singh runners -- Sniper, Cadillac and Venezia -- are rated in low 50s and it looks unlikely that one of them will be carrying the stable confidence.

Exception (Western Aristocrat - Edessya), the winner of Calcutta Fillies' Trial Stakes earlier this month, just "misses the cut" -- borrowing a golf term -- since her rating is only a point below the average field rating. With just two runs in her career so far, she is the least experienced of the runners but also with the most scope for improvement. Her sire Western Aristocrat has shown that with the right kind of mare he can get staying types. Kangra is a case in point. Edessya, the dam of Exception, comes from one of the stoutest Aga Khan families. Exception was running after a gap of nine months when she lined up for the Calcutta Fillies' Trial Stakes but she put it across her experienced rivals -- including Cadillac -- with ease. She is certain to have her band of supporters who will be hoping for her to become the 11th filly to win this race.

Peluche, Shivansh and Exception stand out from the others though not necessarily in that order. Coup de Grace is Bharath Singh's only representative. He won on his debut last December but is winless in 2018. Venezia has two wins from four starts. She is the first foal of her dam, a half-sister to Prevalent Force who did win the Deccan Derby, Gr.1 and South India Derby, Gr.1 only to revert to shorter distances of late. Sniper's three siblings -- Dynamo, Wilderness and Sedulous -- have not won beyond 1400 m.  Cadillac is a full-sister to Mauritania, a winner of the Bangalore 2000 Guineas, Gr.2. Mauritania, however, has never raced beyond a mile. Their dam Classic Sky did win the Calcutta Oaks, Gr.3 in her time and this is the Charenzaccio branch of the Schiaparelli family -- the most prolific source of Classic winners in India -- and Cadillac strikes one as the best of others, provided she gets the trip.

Six favourites and four top-rated horses have won in the last ten years. If Bharath Singh heads the Trainers' Table, it is Christopher Alford who is way ahead of his fellow jockeys with seven wins. In the first 19 runnings only Too Hot To Touch and Ascriptive won with a timing below 2:10. In the last five years, though, that barrier has been consistently breached.

PAST THE POST

Lost in Thought, the dam of Peluche, is a half-sister to a horse called Endless Summer. Endless Summer was bred and owned by Mr Khalid Abdulla in the early part of his career. He was a precocious and speedy customer who won several races. Rather late in his career, it was discovered that he was actually born in December and should not have run in races reserved for particular age groups. The discovery caused a furore, a lengthy enquiry followed and Endless Summer was disqualified retrospectively from the races he was not eligible to participate in. With all the regulations and even with so-called fool-proof systems in place, such instances do take place even in advanced racing countries.