BLAST FROM THE PAST

Sir Cusrow N Wadia was a renowned industrialist and a philanthropist from Bombay. In 1883, he set out his desire to turn a waste marshland into a glorious ‘pièce de résistance’, what we today call the Mahalaxmi racecourse. The current site spread across 225 acres, which would be muddy in monsoon and otherwise dusty in summers, was donated by Sir Wadia, for an interest-free loan to The Western India Turf Club. He sailed along down under to study the architecture of the famous Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne, and on his return the showpiece at Mahalaxmi was built under the direction of Major J.E. Hughes.It was in the honour of Late Sir CusrowN Wadia that the race was named, and first run back in 1927,initially over 2600mas “The CN Wadia Cup”.

PAST DECADE IN NUMBERS

Written by Bill Heller, the book “Graveyard of Champions: Saratoga’s Fallen Favorites” explores the phenomenon of the Saratoga racecourse through the stories of a number of great horses (read: favorites) fallen there, from Man O’ War to Secretariat. Though the favorites at Mahalaxmi haven’t had such a bad fate, The CN Wadia Gold Cup, in all its enigma, has in particular been a ‘graveyard of favorites’. Since 2011, the most fancied horses have fallen each year like dominoes. The last 9 winners had an average closing odds of about 15/1!! The average winner rating too is a mere 91. As a matter of fact, Icebreaker was the last favorite and the last top-rated horse to win this race. Between 2011-2018, all the winners carried less than 55kgs, and hence the top-weighted too have had a rough time. Only twice – Shivalik Showers (2015) & Themis (2018) could finish the circuit within 02:30 mins.

THE RULE OF THREE

The Latin phrase, “omnetrium perfectum” or The Rule Of Three is a writing principle that suggests that a trio of characters is more engaging and effective than any other number. It’s no accident that the number three is pervasive throughout some of our greatest stories, fairy tales, and myths.It’s also no surprising that the Rule of Three works wonders in the world of racing. And for Sunday’s race, in a tiny field of 4 runners, we have the trio of Caprisca, Bronx and Vulcan. The smallest field in over a decade has an average field rating of 99, which is 4 points better than the decade average.

Caprisca (Steinbeck – Xisca) is the first horse in the last 10 years to contest this race after winning it previously, and hence comes back to defend his title. Caprisca has won 7 races across 6 different distances between 7f and 14f (except 11f). He apparently skipped The Stayers Cup, Gr.1 for this race which in one’s opinion was a wise call. Since winning The Indian St Leger, Gr.1 in September 2018, Caprisca has hit a rough patch, having won just once in 9 starts, that too in this very race last year. After a solitary run in Pune monsoon, he was withdrawn in the subsequent start for his sore fetlocks and then underwent a break. On his return to the track after half a year in The SM Shah Eclipse Stakes Of India, Gr.2, Caprisca finished a tame last in a field of 9. There he was ridden by S Zervan, but A Sandesh, who has won the last 3 runnings of this race, might return to the saddle.

Bronx (China Visit – Blue Ridge) started his career a little after his own crop had run its Indian Derby. Bronx was initially restricted to races up to a mile, but was firstgiven ‘long distance’ assignments around the same time last year. He first ran a graded race in August 2019 in Pune, and since then has had 5 more graded starts, winning once over 2000m. On the last start over 2000m, Bronx finished about 5 ½ lengths ahead of Caprisca, with a 1kg advantage. But with similar weightsand an additional 400m, Bronx may not find it easy to put it across Caprisca, given that the latter had a lung opener on last start. In the last 8 years, Usha stud has sent 3 winners of this race by as many sires, and should Bronx win it on Sunday, China Visit would be 4thon that list.

Vulcan (Sedgefield – Shining Force) is a winner of 8 races from 35 starts, but none of the 8 wins came in graded company. It is pretty much like “The Imaginary Finishing Line” we make for ourselves, in self-doubt and inhibition, that limits us from shattering the ceiling of ability. Vulcan too seems to have been caught in such a conundrum. The AdhirajJodha-trained has typically done well over longer distances, but falters when the same equation is thrown in a group race. He is a 3-time course-and-distance winner, apart from 2 wins over at 2400m across the Ghats in Pune. In The Maharaja JiwajiraoScindia Trophy, Gr.2 over 1800m, he was a length behind Bronx with a 5kg advantage. While the scales remain the same, an additional 600m is what might put Vulcan in a comfortable spot. On the other hand, he has run against Caprisca 4 times, having finished ahead thrice. While he did receive weight all around there, his 3-1 score over Caprisca cannot be overlooked.

In the past decade, 4 outstation horses have won the race and this year it’s Majistero (Rebuttal – Zacheta’s Girl) who will be saddled by trainer S Ganapathy.It was in October 2017 when Majistero last won a race, and has bitten the dust on each of the 20 subsequent starts. That’s almost 53 months without crossing the wire first!Though based out of South, Majistero has been training in the western part of the country since September and has never been in place money. On his last start, the gelding was 5 ¼ lengths behind Vulcan and that probably makes him an also-ran.

THE DENOUEMENT

Though on his return to the track Caprisca finished last, the former Indian St Leger winner appeals over his rivals. Though Bronx has a fair bit of class, Caprisca is a better stayer. And howbeit Vulcan may be a stayer beyond doubt, he apparently lacks the class required to win a group race. That said, Caprisca will set out to do what nobody has done in the past decade – defend his title in a graveyard of favorites.