THE BIG PICTURE

A recent visit to the quaint and serene hill station of Madikeri (erstwhile Coorg) offered a mesmeric view of the clear night sky, which is otherwise a rare sight in the hazy Bengaluru. In the entire cavernous black sky, what captivated me was the prominent constellation located on the celestial equator – The Orion. Its brightest stars - Betelgeuse, Rigel, and Bellatrix could be seen clearly as the most conspicuous and recognizable stars of the night sky. Well, if that sight wasn’t spellbinding enough, there’s another constellation of ‘’equine stars’’ that will grace the turf tomorrow in what promises to be a humdinger of a contest. Indian racing’s brightest stars – Desert God, Adjudicate and Star Superior are all set to clash in a marquee event that can bring the entire ‘city of joy’ to a standstill in the aptly named race – The Indian Champion Cup, Gr.1. To put it in numeric context, the 9 runners share a total of 13 Gr.1s, 17 Gr.2s, and 9 Gr.3s - that’s a total of 39 graded race wins in one field! And combined stakes of over Rs.19.2 crore.

It was on the boxing day of 1944 that the race was first run, roughly around the same time when World War II was nearing its end. Pretty Star won the first two editions. The race was discontinued after 1961 for about two decades but has since been a regular feature with terms and distance remaining constant.

PAST DECADE IN NUMBERS

Though the race is open for horses 4 years old and over, it seldom features any horse from the classic crop since most of them are in the ‘Derby mode’. Thus, 9 winners in the past decade were older horses with Dandified in 2012 being an exception. The Usha stud has sent 4 winners with 3 of them sired by Multidimensional. Geldings have dominated with 6 wins but fillies have been winless. C Alford, who is now a trainer, won it 3 times as a jockey over the same period. Outstation horses have raided ‘Fort William’ 7 times in the last 10 years, including the last 4 renewals in-a-row. Favorites obliged their backing 6 times, though the last 3 winners were not the most fancied runners. Half of the runners were top-rated, but that is hardly an indicator as most of them are closely rated. The average field rating of the previous decade was 110, almost as much as that of Thursday’s. The average winner rating is a high 122 and all the ‘three stars’ are rated almost around that number.

THE CONTENDERS AND THE PRETENDERS

The ageless, timeless and the all-time great Desert God (Burden Of Proof – Running Flame) is like the old wine of Château Margaux – he just gets better with time. The horse will be known for his gargantuan appetite for dominating black-type races. With an all-time high career stakes of 8.39 cr INR, Desert God also boasts of a Gr.1 win in each prominent centre of the country (except Bangalore). What puts him on a strong footing is his unbeaten run in the last 4 starts, with a combined margin of 19 lengths. His recent workouts suggest that he has ‘plenty in hand’, almost as if ready to strike on the next run. But not everything is so hunky-dory as it appears and so Desert God is not a ‘golden goose’. The field he faced in the last 4 starts hardly offered any opposition and Salazaar was probably the only worthwhile opponent that he defeated. Also, in two encounters with Adjudicate, he was beaten fair-and-square both times, with the filly putting in better acceleration in the straight. Desert God is traveling to the east after 4 years and tomorrow’s race will be his first one here since his win the The Calcutta Derby in 2016.

Adjudicate (Multidimensional – Alvarita) did beat Desert God on both occasions they came across each other and did so coming from behind at Hyderabad and Bangalore. Like most Multidimensional’s, Adjudicate too prefers coming fromoff-the-pace and more often than not, does so with ease. However, such tactics on a course like Calcutta that has a relatively short straight can catch you off-guard. As such, on her last start, Adjudicate was caught on the wrong foot when her jockey A Sandesh rode overconfidently, losing a certain race. At the top of straight, when Star Superior was already under the whip, Sandesh waited to urge Adjudicate till it was a little too late. Though there was no inquiry in that matter, Adjudicate definitely should not have lost the way she did. Quite expectedly there has been a change in the saddle with YS Srinath taking the seat. Meanwhile, in the subsequent race tomorrow, Adjudicate’spaternal half-brother Black Pearl (by Planetaire) will compete in The Indian Champagne Stakes, Gr.3 and should he win, it would be a rare instance of two siblings winning two graded races on the same day!

Star Superior (Excellent Art – Ramjet) has raced 4 times against Adjudicate, going down just once in the Invitation Cup. Hence assuming Adjudicate as a yardstick, who has got the better of Desert God twice, puts Star Superior at a theoretical advantage. Star Superior and Desert God faced-off once in The Invitation Cup, with the latter finishing 2 ¼ lengths ahead. But there’s not much that one can take away from that race. Star Superior registered a win on his last start, which was also his maiden appearance at Calcutta. He has been there for over a month now and by now must have got a ‘feel of the track’. He has outstayed his pedigree, winning 5 times out of 7 at 2000m and above, and so staying the distance is hardly a talking matter. Though it is not rare for a horse to lose at the peak of its career, a comparative analysis puts him on a stronger footing against the other two.

Writer William Bolitho said that an ‘’Adventure must start with running away from home’’ and one horse took that too seriously. For the western-India based Whomakestherules (Multidimensional – Pricewise), Calcutta is a happy place, more like a second home. Out of his 8 wins, 5 of them came here and all of them were graded races. Though he is more of a ‘miler’, he has won twice at 2000m too. Whomakestherules won this race last year with SurajNarredu but Nikhil Naidu will take the ride this time. In the last 10 years, no horse has won this race in successive years.

The rest of the runners have nothing to lose but still warrant some mention. Shivansh (Top Class – Immortal Story) won The Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Gr.3 followed by The Calcutta St. Leger, G.3, but has not won anything after that. His trainer Vijay Singh has previously won this race with Snowdrift and Dandified. It is tough to understand what made the connections of New England (Arazan – Autumnal) enter him in this race. He has been at his best around a mile but now races beyond that distance for the first time. He recently moved to VikashJaiswal’s stable and has finished 3rd in 3 starts here. Notably, Mr. Jaiswal now also owns a share in New England. Lord Of The Sea (Dean’s Kitten – Enamoured) has been winless for a year and has lost all 8 starts since shifting his base to Calcutta under ShyamHabbu. All his 4 wins have come in handicap company. Point To Prove (Multidimensional – Burooq) came here for the classics last winter but did not achieve anything worth a mention. Raise A Grand (Ravel – Lothian Lass) is a western-India based horse under trainer Vinesh but has been stationed at Calcutta since December 2018.

UNDERFOOT AND OVERHEAD CONDITIONS

A foggy afternoon is expected with a maximum daytime temperature of 26°c and the humidity would stay around 63%. Star Superior clocked a speedy timing on his last win here at a mile and so Colombiana’s 2017 track record of 02:02.07 will be under some threat. But that would certainly depend on how fast a pace is set by the front-runner.

THE DENOUEMENT

The star-studded line-up features everything a racing enthusiast can ask for and thus also brings to the game much-needed publicity. Star Superior, who has been unbeaten in his last 4 starts appears to be the first among equals. Off-the-pace tactics can be detrimental on a short straight, something that Adjudicate wouldn’t want to repeat tomorrow. Desert God has the age factor against him but would still give the other two a run for their money. It would also give ample indication of how things stack up before the all-important Invitation Cup. So, in a constellation of bright stars, who will shine the brightest?