Way back on 22 July 1962, Mr. Al. M. Muthukaruppan Chettiar's  bay colt Mount Everest (Decorum - Evening TIde), trained by Mohd. Lahori and ridden by J. McGaffin, won the Kunigal Derby over a mile, crossing the wire two and a half lengths ahead of Royal Revive with six other runners in their wake. Earlier, he had won the Bangalore Colts' Trial Stakes. He later annexed the inaugural Indian Turf Invitation Cup at Mahalakshmi. By adding the Derby to his Trials success and subsequently winning a big prize in the winter, he established a trend that still runs strong. Nineteen colts and eight fillies have registered a summer Classic Double in Bangalore in 57 renewals while 32 winners of the Derby Bangalore have gone on to win an Indian Classic, the Invitation Cup or a winter Derby. The nomenclature Kunigal Derby, Bangalore Derby and Derby Bangalore does confuse many who simply prefer to call it the Bangalore Summer Derby. As if to add further credence to The Bard's famous words -- "What's in a name ?" --, the race today is simply the richest and most significant contest in India for three-year olds.

Although it is only academic now, there are several instances of the two mile Classic winners confronting each other in Derby the following month; ten in this millennium alone. Only six, though, of the two finishing 1-2 in the big race -- Divine Light-Brave Dancer (verdict 3 1/2 lengths in 1987), Astounding-Summer Dust (3 1/2 lengths in 1992), Cape Dance-Mystic Memory (2 lengths in 1994), Star Supreme-Wandering Star (4 lengths in 1997), Southern Empire-Haunting Memories) (9 1/2 lengths in 2006) and the close contest in 2017 when Manifold prevailed over Castlebridge by just half a length. Statistically, the colts have an edge over the fillies. 

The unfortunate absence of War Hammer has given the race a more open look. The unbeaten filly Well Connected is still very much in the running but it is only fair to say that she does not have the aura of War Hammer. Eleven horses have successfully extended their unbeaten record by winning the Derby and four of them -- Camineto, Divine Light, LIttleover and Set Alight -- have been fillies. All four of them were more experienced than Well Connected who has raced only twice so far. Of course, just being unbeaten is no guarantee to winning the Derby. Red Cockade and Almanac were unbeaten going into the Big 'Un, started as raging hot favourites and returned duly humbled. 

Both the wins  of Well Connected came when there was a bit of a give in the ground and we don't yet know how crucial this factor is to her. Her biggest asset is her trainer, S. Padmanabhan and his undisputed Classic touch. He has won this race thrice but with colts. His two previous winners of the Fillies' Trial Stakes-- Winning Pretty and Wandering Star -- both failed to win the Derby. He himself would be very much aware of this and is sure to have made plans to rectify the issue. The filly traces to Schiaparelli, the family which has provided the most Classic winners in India. On the flip side, she has a slightly longer than ideal gap since her last start. If David Allan comes out to partner her, his prospects will be considerably enhanced.

Padmanabhan will also be saddling Knight Templar (Multidimensional - Grand Madame). The colt made his debut only in May and came out of the maidens on his second start in June. He is as inexperienced as Well Connected. The eminent legal luminary Mr. C. Aryama Sundaram has owned horses at Chennai but Knight Templar is perhaps the first to carry his colours on the main circuit. (He does have a couple of other 3YOs with the same trainer). The colt is bred to stay being from the immediate family of mile and a half Classic winners like his dam, Star Luminary, Altenburg and Amberetta. Any trainer would want to give an early taste of Classic success to a prominent new owner but the feeling is that Knight Templar will be on a scouting mission on Sunday with the Monsoon Derbies in view. His China Visit half-brother Auriga was a close third in Angel Dust's race four years ago.

Only one of the ten  runners have essayed this distance before and the extra two furlongs would lead to much conjecture regarding their suitability to tackle it. Several winners of the mile Classic have completed the double by bagging the Derby even though they were not true stayers. Some examples which can be quoted are Galilee, Mauritius Pearl, Camino Camineto, Divine Light, Snow Dew, Bourbon King, Aboline and Pronto Pronto. The reason for this is the configuration of the Bangalore track. The Derby starts right in front of the stands and track starts turning soon after. Runners, angling for position, are going no great pace. The average time of the last ten Colts' Championship is 1.38.1 while that of the corresponding Derbies is 2.08.8. That is a difference of 30.7 seconds and makes that section the slowest quarter at Bangalore. So, a good mile winner at Bangalore is not necessarily at a disadvantage in the Derby. 

The only horse to have beaten Impavid will not be running on Sunday. Impavid ran a most courageous race in the Colts' and really made War Hammer earn his stripes. He was not stopping at the end and it was only the winner's superior finishing speed which saw him relegated to the second spot. He has as good a chance as Well Connected to win the race. The remaining six runners in the Colts' were six lengths and more behind him and that is much too much to make up.  

Impavid's trainer, Arjun Mangalorkar, will also be saddling Royal Crystal (Western Aristocrat - Sparkling Crystal). At first glance, he may appear to be a pacemaker but a second look suggests that he may be running on his own terms as he is owned by different connections altogether. After all, he is the only runner to have travelled 2000 m. in a race. That was in the A.M.C. Gowda Memorial Cup last month when he ran against older horses. Last at the bend, he came round the entire field, was hampered a bit when essaying his challenge and still finished within three lengths of the winner Secretive Force. Secretive Force has scored an encore over the same distance in the higher class and that boosts Royal Crystal's stock. He strikes as a good outsider.

Anjeze lost her unbeaten record in the Fillies' and with that many friends. She is a light-framed filly and reports say that her trainer found it hard to keep her in condition and also sharp enough in the five weeks that separated the Sir Cecil Million and Fillies' Championship Stakes, Gr.1. She was probably beaten for fitness -- not stamina as averred by some -- last time out and she has to pass the paddock fitness test. Her full sister was unplaced in the Fillies' but vanquished her 13 rivals in the Derby to return Rs. 555 on Tote. Akshay Kumar has reportedly been booked to ride her.

Finishing just behind Anjeze in the Fillies' was Cosmic Ray (Burden of Proof - Corsican Gal), a full sister to the Calcutta 2000 Guineas, Gr.3 winner Charlatan. As a runner in the URBB colours, the filly can't just be ignored. Mr. Zeyn Mirza, the URBB Racing Manager, was asked what he expected in the Derby and he was quick to quip, "Fourth in the Guineas, first in the Derby". That's an old English saying though it perhaps does not cover the fillies.  Boodles, the third dam of Cosmic Ray beat the 'boys' to win the South India 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 in her time. The longest that a descendant of Boodles has won over is 1800 m.  That distinction belongs to Charlatan in his prep-race before finishing third to Alaindair in his next outing in the Derby.

Shroff certainly has a way with Classic fillies but the two lacklustre runs of Hunt for Gold in Bangalore call for a magic wand. Besides, we don't know how far the progeny of her first season sire Leitir Mor will go though her dam is a winner of the Nanoli Stud Indian Oaks, Gr.1. Sir Supremo (Speaking of Which - Cool Mover) is a maiden who has preferred to take his chance here rather in the Nawab Arshad Ali Khan Memorial Cup on Saturday or the Mystical Million over 1600m for maidens. The well-bred Southern Ruler (Saamidd - Farha) is also a maiden while Malwa is winless in 2019 after having won on debut last December.

The field of ten runners includes four fillies and has average field rating of 54.4 which is about four points below the last ten years average. We have an unbeaten filly (Well Connected) and two maidens (Sir Supremo and Southern Ruler).  In the last ten years, four favourites, five highest rated horses, three fillies and seven previous mile winners have come good. It is an interesting fact that a horse carrying the number 6 or 7 has not won this race in the 21st century. Numerologists may have an explanation for that.
 
PAST THE POST

The last time the summer Derby was run on 21 July was in 1974. It resulted in a dead-heat between Skyline and the maiden grey Mauritius Pearl.

The latest that the Derby has been run is on 24 July. That was the year of the "Apprentice Derby". The jockeys were on a strike and B.T.C. Ltd., not succumbing to the pressure, decided to go ahead with the scheduled programme using apprentices. Manitou, ridden by P. Bhosle, easily won the race at good odds to maintain his unbeaten status and give R.R. Byramji a hat-trick and make him the only trainer to have sent out three consecutive winners of the race..That was the only Classic winner ever ridden by P. Bhosle but he remains the only apprentice to have won the race. His son the late B. Prakash, however, has the distinction of having ridden more Classic winners in India than any other jockey.