The 43rd Golconda Derby, the youngest of winter Derbies, will be run on Sunday at Malakpet. The first and the latest were both won by fillies (Nicolette in 1980 and Lombardy last year) and there two Oaks winning fillies in the field this year. It is, more often than not, the last of the regional winter Derbies before the Indian Derby as such there usually isn't sufficient time for a Golconda Derby winner to go to Mahalakshmi. Still, five Golconda Derby winners -- Astrologica, Retribution, Diabolical, Quasar and Royal Crystal -- have made the journey to Mumbai but only Diabolical was successful.

The Field

Ten runners, with average rating of 55, have accepted and the field includes four outstation challengers, three Classic winners, three fillies, one 'got-abroad' (Teresita) and one maiden (Karanveer).  Of the trainers with runners on Sunday, L.V.R. Deshmukh and Laxman Singh have saddled two winners each while  Arjun Mangalorkar has led in one. 

Fillies 

The 'got-abroad' filly Teresita (Havana Gold - Titian's Pride) catches the eye immediately. Never off the board in her four starts so far, her progress has been spectacular. She was a close third on her debut in August to Stockbridge and A Star Is Born with Southern Dynasty not far away in fourth. In hindsight that looks a very good maiden race. On her next start towards the end of November, she won effortlessly by almost half a dozen lengths and was thrown into the deep end in Miracle's  Villoo C. Poonawalla Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1. She acquitted herself well by grabbing a paying place behind the too-good Miracle and Petronia. Returning to Bangalore, she lowered the colours of two Classic winners -- Eternal Blaze and Alicia -- in the Bangalore Oaks, Gr.2  and now finds herself at a joint top-rating. Further improvement is very much on the cards and having won over 2400 m., there are no doubts about her getting the trip. Having won the Bangalore Oaks, Gr.2 on her, Trevor knows the filly well.

Faith of Success (Saamidd - Isola Tiberina) beat a much inferior field in the Golconda Oaks, Gr.2 but a course and distance victory has its own importance. Bangalore-based like Teresita, Faith of Success had earlier won over 1800 m. and placed a close third to Antibes on her home track. Teresita, however, shapes as the more likely winner based on her pedigree and the much greater experience of her trainer. The remaining filly, Icicle (Tenth Star - Connemara), veered out at the very first bend in the Golconda Oaks, Gr.2 on her last start and was out of the race. Apparently, it was due to her saddle slipping for which the trainer has been fined. One of her three wins is over a mile but she has never raced in black-type company. Even if she is upto no antics on Sunday, she faces a tough task. Neeraj Rawal, who has ridden her in three of her five starts including the Oaks, continues the association.

Colts

Of the seven colts lining up, one can discount the chances of the maiden Karanveer and Buckley (Phoenix Tower - Athens). Buckley's sire has produced a Derby winner and his dam is an Oaks winner herself. However, the gelding's sole win so far is over a sprint. Last time out over 2000 m., Ashwa Raudee, Fire Power and Painted Apache finished ahead of him.

Speaking of Which, whose third crop this is, has so far sired four Classic winners; two at a mile and two over the Derby distance. He also has two out of Razeen mares and two out of Multidimensional mares. He is yet to establish a firm preference and falls in the category of a "stallion who could sire 2400 m. Classic winner". He has three sons in the fray and one of them is Golconda 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 winner Stockbridge (ex Sheryl by Multidimensional). In that race, he had Count of Savoy, Ashwa Raudee, Buckley, Painted Apache, Botero and Fire Power finishing behind him in that order. Thereafter, Stockbridge lost some sheen when he finished nowhere in Arion Horse Company Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1 at Mumbai. There is a reason for that. He found himself hemmed on the rails, failed to find galloping space and was not persevered with. His dam Sheryl was a promising filly whose career ended  abruptly when she was only a three year-old. Sheryl has five siblings including full-brother Multitude who won 25 races but only two of them were beyond 1400 m., though he did place second to Desert God in the Calcutta Derby, Gr.1. Their dam Haedi was a winner over 1200 m. in England. Thus, it is a speedy immediate family and Stockbridge is not certain to stay the distance. S. John is well acquainted with colt having ridden him often in the mornings but will be riding him for the first time in a race on Sunday. 

Ashwa Raudee (ex Serrafina by Razeen) has two wins over 2000 m. and that is a bit surprising because his dam was a pure sprinter who won eight races but only upto 1200 m. Serrafina's previous seven foals are all winners of 24 races combined of which 22 are at 1200 m. This is essentially an elite speedy family (Sprinters' Cup, Gr.1 winner Shamal belongs to it) but Serrafina's three-parts sister Flowersoftheforest won this very race ! Pedigree is a starting point. One has to move to the horse as an  individual and in this case Ashwa Raudee looks likely to stay further and take a hand in the finish. The booking of Suraj Narredu enhances the prospects.

Fire Power (ex Roses In Bloom by Multidimensional) is a full-brother of Rosina (Calcutta Oaks, Gr.3) and their dam won the Golconda Derby, Gr.1 eight years ago. The gelding is talented but inconsistent. He was beaten a nose by Kensington in the Deccan Colts' Championship, Gr.3 in September where subsequent Classic winners Zuccarelli, Angelico and Stockbridge were behind him. That run was followed by three poor efforts but going beyond a mile for the first time last out, he lost by just a short-head to Ashwa Raudee, though he was getting weight from the winner. Six different jockeys have ridden him in his nine starts and that could hardly have helped. Last outing was the first time Akshay Kumar rode him. That would have given him a better idea of when to unleash Fire Power.

Count of Savoy (Roderic O'Connor - Lombardia), is a half-brother to last year's winner Lombardy. He was beaten half a length by Stockbridge in the Golconda 2000 Guineas, Gr.2, that run coming between two wins over a mile, a distance beyond which he is yet to venture. He is from the first crop of his sire, a son of Galileo and from a staying family. However, Roderic O'Connor, trained by Aidan O'Brien, won all his three races at a mile and failed to place when sent over longer. He has stood abroad as a stallion for a while and the average winning distance of his progeny is also around a mile. The evidence regarding how much stamina he imparts to his progeny in India is as yet scanty so The Count's prospects on Sunday are hazy.

Painted Apache (Ampere - Pure Elation) has a win over 1800 m. to his name and had he got a clear run earlier, he would have finished closer to the dueling pair of Ashwa Raudee and Fire Power on his last start over 2000 m. Bred on the same pattern as Lady in Lace, he is an interesting prospect. 

Trends (Last Ten Years)

For a long time, the Golconda Derby represented easy pickings to outstation raiders. In the last ten years, it has been much more competitive and the spoils have been equally shared between the raiders and the home brigade. The average size of the field is eleven with a rating of 68 and the average rating of winners is 75. Four fillies, three top-rated runners have scored and eight had won their previous start. The two 'got-abroads' to have won are Tintinnabulation and Quasar and two of the winners were having their first run on the Malakpet track. Multidimensional leads the stallions with two winners  but does not have a runner this year while three of the winners were born at Poonawalla Farms. 

PAST THE POST

There was a gap of just a week between the Golconda Derby and the Indian Derby for the first three years but in 1982 it became longer due to a law and order situation in Bombay which caused the Indian Derby to be postponed at the last minute. In 1983, there was a two weeks gap between the races and Rashid Byramji grabbed the opportunity to send Nelston for the Indian Derby after he had finished second as the odds on favourite at Malakpet. Byramji also had Camino (Walter Swinburn) in the race and he was the public fancy. Camino ran into trouble but Nelston saved the day winning at 20/1. That was the first time a horse had run in the Derbies at Malakpet and Mahalakshmi.