Racing is a sport that values its tradition more than anything else. Yet, over the years racing seems to have altered attitudes of people involved, to the point where we are at least prepared to consider doing things differently. And to put that into the right perspective, the final and the longest of five classics – The St. Leger has been one such subject of alteration. With breeding in the country having an orientation to produce more of sprinter-milers, there has often been a paucity of horses who can stay the grueling distance of a mile and three quarters. The Legers had lost its popularity even in Europe, and it was in 1983 that the Irish St. Leger was thrown open to older horses. Such a need was felt by various clubs in India too and The Bangalore Turf Club followed suit in 2016, and Hyderabad Race Club a year later.

Age, in fact, is not the problem so as much as relevance. The St. Leger does no longer feel like a race that matters in the way a classic should, thus becoming more of a consolation prize for slow horses. After the race, we know this horse stayed, while the other didn't. However, the outcome won't feel like a great surprise because there was no way to be sure of it in the first place. Unlike other sports, races don't last very long and a greater part of pleasure lies in the build-up. With almost all Group 1, there exists a decent list of previous renewals that occupies a sweet memory in a racegoer's mind. Such, I suggest, is not the case with St. Leger. There are so many opportunities elsewhere that it is easy enough for best horses to avoid each other and hence a race like St. Leger seems like an unfashionable target unless there is really nothing that the horse can win.

A field of 6 runners has lined-up for The Tetrasoft Inc. Bangalore St. Leger, Gr.2 having an average rating of 99, about two points higher than that of the last 10 years. In the decade gone by, five highest-rated runners won the race and a similar number of favorites came out victorious. There is usually a two-month gap between The Bangalore St. Leger, Gr.2 and The Indian St. Leger, Gr.1 and hence the former offers a healthier context for the ones targeting the latter. Of the past 7 winners of this race, 5 went on to win the Indian St. Leger in the same year (In The Spotlight, Amazing Grace, Quasar, Desert God & Mathaiyus). It won't be an exaggeration to quote Desert God (Burden Of Proof – Running Flame) as the ‘Earl Cameron of racing'! He has coped up with his age a lot better than his peers and predecessors. He has already won four St. Legers and is on a quest to his fifth, which if achieved would become a record of sorts. Desert God had never lost a race over 2400m and above, until The Invitation Cup earlier this year. He still has an impeccable record at races 2400m and above, having won 9 out of 10. Similarly, he had never lost with A. Sandesh in the saddle, winning 7 races until he got beaten in his last start. On Sunday, Desert God will run at his most favorable distance and with his talismanic rider, with an ambition to win his third St. Leger at his home turf, and fifth overall. Chances of such an authoritarian animal can hardly be questioned, but racing, as they say, is a funny sport.

One horse that promises to put up a worthy match is Salazaar (Burden Of Proof – Saddle Star). He is one of the three horses who have finished ahead of Desert God on more than one occasion, with Auriga and Adjudicate being the other two. However, both those instances were at 1800m in The Chief Justice Cup, Gr.3 and in successive years. They have faced each other at 2800m twice and Desert God won audaciously each time. Thus, Desert God seems to enjoy a clear edge. Salazaar won The Golconda St. Leger in 2017 against a competitive field with Suraj Narredu, who will again hold his reins on Sunday.

Trainer Pesi Shroff has saddled 3 winners of this race previously in Xisca (2011), Amazing Grace (2014) and Mathaiyus (2017) and has come with lightly raced Roberta (Multidimensional – Moonlight Romance). She finished 4th in The Maharaja's Gold Cup, Gr.2 and would run within a gap of a fortnight. It would be interesting to note what progress she makes in such a short period. Fillies usually struggle at such grueling distances and this two-week gap further adds to her woes. Only 3 fillies have won this race in the last 10 years.

Reunion (Dancing Forever – Ambos) is a perfect example of what goes wrong in the way things are structured for horses who are bred to stay. He has ventured over 2800m and above in five races, but has failed to win each time. Reunion is a stamina-driven horse but surely lacks the class to win Group races. If the authorities fail to figure out a way soon to offer some incentive elsewhere for such horses, then the possibility of a ‘St. Leger being declared void due to paucity of acceptors’ in the near future cannot be ruled out.

The fact that the concept of Dosage Index doesn't hold good in Indian racing to the extent it does elsewhere (like Europe and the US) is widely accepted, and a horse like My Opinion (Dialed In – Love Me Good) is a decent case to illustrate that. He has a DI of 7.00 and yet managed to win The South India St. Leger, Gr.2. Very few would have noted that Quasar too had a DI of 7.00 but won many long-distance races including Bangalore St. Leger in 2015. Lowest-rated Point To Prove (Multidimensional – Burooq) appears like an also-ran and has a remote chance of pulling off something unexpected. His trainer Arjun Mangalokar though, won this race with Conceptual in 2009 beating a 10/3 on favorite Icebreaker.
Food For Thought

The connections of the ‘finest of the crop' have largely been reluctant to run their wards in this race. Perhaps concerned about the fact it may actually win, making it difficult for them to later arrange a mating, for the simple reason that in case there is a deficiency of class in the offspring, it would struggle to earn stakes in lesser fancied long-distance races. Such a claim holds good much more with the fillies. In the ten most recent Bangalore St. Legers (including the one to be run on Sunday), only 15 of the 53 runners were fillies. Even after opening up the race for older horses, fields are hardly competitive with an odd stayer walking away with the glory in a less competitive environment. But, after all the rant and rave, few positive measures can be surely be undertaken. Sunday's renewal offers the winner a sum of just 1.4 Million Rupees with the runner up getting less than half a million. An odd handicap race's winner at times walks away with a similar amount and hence there exists no great incentive of competing in a Group 2 classic. Thus, the stake money for classic races needs a review and should offer a greater prize.