The first Stayers' Cup was run at Guindy in 1981 and was won by the late Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy's Own Opinion, arguably the best horse owned by him till then. There is no dispute that there is not a single owner in India whose colours have been seen more than Dr. Ramaswamy's  gold and brown. His Classic tally will never be surpassed in the lifetimes of those who have seen his silks on the track. Dr. Ramaswamy breathed his last in December 2015. The 2016 Invitation Cup week-end races were scheduled to be run at Guindy. From 2016 onwards, the Stayers' Cup bears the late Baron's name.

Trends (Last Ten Years)

This is a good race for the favourites, five of them having won in the last ten years. Just two four-year olds have put it across older contenders and no filly has crossed the post first. Two 'got-abroads' -- Tintinnabulation and Sacred Roman -- have been successful. The average field rating is 100 and that of the winners 105. Generally, the winner had raced over 2400 m. or more in the previous start; however, given the disruption to racing by the pandemic restrictions, the usual lead-up races have not been available this year.  S.S. Attaolahi has sent out four winners and P. Trevor, now riding in the Gulf, has booted home two. Astapi won the race twice just as Aztec and Ardiles had done in the 1980s.

Main Contenders

Salazaar (Burden of Proof - Saddle Star), an own-bred URBB runner, has been classy and consistent in his long career. His twelve wins from thirty six starts include the South India Derby, Gr.1 and Golconda St. Leger, Gr.2. A well-traveled horse, he has a winning bracket at Bangalore, Chennai, Mysore, Hyderabad and Mumbai and he was third in Kangra's Invitation Cup in his only race at Calcutta. From the same family as Saddle Up, India's best performed horse abroad, this will be his first Stayers' Cup. He was easily beaten by Lagarde in the Ashok Chakra Cup, 1800 m., recently at Bangalore but that run is sure to have sharpened him. A bit moody, he loves to race on the rail and when does get it, he makes his presence count. If he wins, he will be creating history for no eight year-old has yet won the Stayers' Cup. He will be ridden by A. Sandesh, a fine jockey over a trip, who has won this race previously on Astapi.

With Juliette running in the Invitation Cup, the gold and brown colours will be carried by the six year-old My Opinion (Dialed In - Love Me Good). For him, too, it will be his first Stayers' Cup. The chestnut is a confirmed stayer who has run in six St. Legers and won the South India St. Leger, Gr.2 twice. He is at his best on his home turf  and his two wins away from Guindy have come at Hyderabad -- as a three year-old -- and at Calcutta on his last start towards the end of October. Like Cavallo Veloce, he is trained by B. Suresh and the trainer needs to be applauded for fluttering the Chennai flag at other centres.  Akshay Kumar, who has ridden My Opinion in eighteen of his thirty five starts, knows the horse well.

Other Runners

Caprisca (Steinbeck - Xisca) won the Indian St. Leger, Gr.1 in 2018 and then the C.N. Wadia Gold Cup, Gr.2 in March 2019. In 13 starts since then, he has failed to hoist the winning flag. Three runs over 2000 m. in Pune recently may have gingered him a bit. He is a genuine customer but at 7 he faces a difficult task. Magistero will probably set the pace for My Opinion while the fillies Apsara Star and Bisate are yet to win beyond 2000 m.  

It is unusual for a horse with just four career starts to be running in an Invitation race so Theon (Multidimensional - Fontainebleu) has already achieved something unique. He made his debut as a four year-old at Calcutta  over a mile  on the same day that contemporaries ran in the Derby and didn't set the Hoogly on fire. A fortnight later, he distanced his rivals over 2400 m. He then changed stables and was switched to Mumbai where he ran once. On his only start in Pune, he won over 2000 m. He is a three-parts brother to Point To Prove who was second in this race last year at Mysore, has been working regularly and well in the company of Parisian and runs in the same partnership as Immortality. All that is encouraging but it does not alter the fact that he is the lowest rated runner. Besides, he has been supplemented into the Indian St. Leger next month and this race may just be a warm up.

The Field

This race has seen much smaller fields in the past so seven runners going to the post is not at all bad. The average rating of the field is 89.

PAST THE POST

When older horses were made eligible to run in the Invitation Cup -- Calcutta, 2013 -- they had to give the four year-olds 4 kgs. That year, the penalty in the Stayers' Cup was 5 kgs. After a round of five years during which the Classic crop held its own, the penalty was reduced to  2 kgs. in the Invitation Cup and 3 kgs. in the Stayers' Cup. A penalty of 2 kgs. in the Invitation Cup remained for the next two runnings but that in the Stayers' Cup was further reduced to 2.5 kgs.

It will be noticed that this year all horses carry the same weight, irrespective of age, in all the Invitational races. Of course, fillies and mares get  1.5 kg. sex allowance. The logic behind this change, it is learnt, is the late scheduling of the Invitation races. In a fortnight's time, the Classic crop will turn 5 and be ineligible for any weight concession. One can debate the wisdom of this move and there will be as many arguments for the pro side as for the con team. Punters have no say in the matter but will need to pay heed to this significant change.