The Octogenarian Jubilee renewal of the Indian Derby will take place on Sunday. Until last week, racing was conducted at Mahalakshmi without spectators because of the Omicron scare. Fortunately, this week-end the spectators will be back and  there should be a sizeable number of people in the stands. People know the importance of the Derby but it is the crowd which shoots up adrenaline levels of horses. We not only have a good contest on hand but very high quality racing to savour on Derby Day.

The Field

A Sportsman's Dozen, including three fillies, will roll in front of the Members' Stand before being loaded and and sent off. The average rating is 56. (The low rating is understandable because the eleven runners have just 53 starts between them or five each on an average. The 2020 field, unaffected by Covid, had an average of 9 starts per runner). Five of the runners have won their previous start, there are four Classic winners, three Derby winners (counting the Deccan Derby winner), three distance winners,  three outstation challengers, two maidens, one unbeaten filly, one course and distance winner, one 'got-abroad', one chestnut and no greys.  Trainer Pesi Shroff has a posse of five runners and three runners will sport the gold-and-brown jackets. Shroff and Rajesh Narredu are the only two trainers with a runner on Sunday who have a saddled Derby winner previously. As far as the jockeys are concerned, Suraj Narredu and C.S. Jodha have ridden a winner before while the remaining are still looking for their first. P.S. Kaviraj and C. Umesh get their first Indian Derby rides. Suraj Narredu has been astride the last three winners. Shroff has had a hat-trick as a jockey previously but no one has ridden four in succession so far. 

Going Unbeaten Into The Derby

There are thirteen instances of horses with a string of five or more unbeaten starts approaching the Indian Derby. For one reason or the other, three of them -- Adler, Continual and Black Pearl -- did not run in the Derby. Of the remaining ten, six tasted their first defeat in the Derby. The four who extended their sequence by winning are Exhilaration (6 wins after the Derby), Elusive Pimpernel (8), Indictment (7) and War Hammer (8). Among the six that were defeated in the Derby are three fillies -- Her Majesty (1947), Heliantha (1974) and Set Alight (2009). Thus, no unbeaten filly has yet won the Derby. Set Alight and Southern Empire had both won ten races each before meeting their Waterloo in the Derby. This bit of trivia has been manually compiled and there could be some inadvertent errors and omissions. History is quoted because it does hold an interest for some, if not many. However, it is good  to remember that history is as often repeated as it is created.

Miracle

In eight starts on three different tracks, Miracle (Multidimensional - Khalila) has not been beaten. She defeated Zuccarelli by five and a quarter lengths in the Golden Jubilee Deccan Derby, Gr.1. She has got the better of colts in the Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million, Gr.1 and the Golden Jubilee Deccan Derby, Gr.1. Her Indian Oaks victory -- over four maidens and in the slowest time since Thanksgiving in 1994 -- makes her a course and distance winner but does not attest her staying potential. However, she did run in the last quarter in the Oaks under a sub-24 seconds time despite being hard held. Miracle has won eight races including five Classics and four Gr.1s; her ten opponents between them just about manage to match those statistics. A fortnight ago, it looked as if she was heading for a waltz in the Derby but the picture has changed since then. She now has foes that cannot be taken lightly.

When Miracle won the Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million, Gr.1, she was completing an unbeaten hat-trick. At that point in time, some of her Sunday's rivals had not even made their debuts and none had won a race. The filly hence has the burden of maintaining her form while others have bloomed late. Against that, it is also true that we do not know the depth of her reserves. In her first three runs, Miracle ran in big fields and showed admirable maturity while weaving through runners. She did receive a couple of cracks from P.S. Chouhan in those races but it was as much to aid her navigation as also a signal to start moving. In her last five races, the jockey has not needed the whip and a nudge has been enough to make her change gears. Only Chouhan has been astride her in all her eight races. There are seven previous Indian Derby winners who had been  ridden from  their debut to the Derby by only one jockey.  A point in her favour is that this year there is a gap of three weeks between the Oaks and Derby and her preparation has been unhampered. Shroff's two previous Derby winners -- Jacqueline and Immortality -- were fillies.

Miracle is the ninth and last foal of Khalila, probably the most expensive broodmare imported to India. Khalila produced a dead foal by Multidimensional in 2019 and was barren to the same stallion in 2020. She was then covered by both, Multidimensional and his son Multitude,  and died shortly afterwards at the age of 17. At the time of her death, Khalila had an ordinary record as a broodmare. Her daughter Miracle, granddaughter Eternal Blaze and her grandson Imperial Power have showered her with posthumous honours. In time, Miracle and Eternal Blaze will return to Usha Stud to keep Khalila's glorious legacy alive.

Zuccarelli

One of the main challenges to the Queen Filly comes from her own stable. Zuccarelli (Western Aristocrat - Circle of Bliss) is also trained by Pesi Shroff. Like the filly, he has won a monsoon Derby and Gr.1 Classic over 2400 m. in the winter. Just once have the two clashed and that was in the Golden Jubilee Deccan Derby, Gr.1 at Hyderabad. In that race, another stablemate -- Johannesburg -- made the early running, Zuccarelli took over before the bend and brought the field in the view of the Judge but was passed easily by Miracle who went away smoothly to win by a little over five lengths. Zuccarelli kept on, despite losing a shoe to finish as the runner-up. Note, though, that Zuccarelli was then a maiden while Miracle was a winner of four races.  Zuccarelli went on to win Pune Derby, Gr.1 impressively from A Star Is Born (Roderic O'Connor - Angel Dust) but was beaten narrowly by the same colt in the Arion Horse Company Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1 as he came back to a mile.

Zuccarelli's spectacular victory in the Kingfisher Ultra Bangalore Derby, Gr.1 has brought him firmly into the Derby picture. His winning margin of fifteen and quarter lengths is the longest recorded in India in any Derby. He beat two Classic winners who did not stay but the impression he left is of a horse in prime form and ready to take on all comers. An old adage says -- "In a Derby, Prefer The Colt". 

A Star Is Born

If Zuccarelli is a contender, then A Star Is Born has also to be considered. The last time these two met, it was the latter who prevailed by a neck. Earlier, Zuccarelli had got the measure of A Star Is Born easily in the Pune Derby, Gr.1. Zuccarelli's Bangalore win further suggests that he is better over a longer trip. A Star Is Born is yet to win beyond a mile and at this  stage only his close connections would have an inkling of his aptitude. For others, there are pedigree pointers. Angel Dust, the dam of A Star Is Born, won the Garuda Bangalore Derby, Gr.1 and could be expected to provide stamina to her offspring. But pedigrees can also mislead on occasions. Angel Dust's full-brother Kensington stayed the Derby distance at Guindy only to find Evaldo -- an unlikely stayer on pedigree -- produce the winning run. The sire Roderic O'Connor also has a part to play but as yet has not revealed his hand fully. He has had a runner in three Classics over 2400 m and is still looking for his first winner. The sample, however, is too small to draw any definitive conclusion. 

A Star Is Born will be going straight into the Derby after winning the "2000" just as Exhilaration, the first winner in the Poonawalla colours, had done in 1989. There are four other Indian Derby winners which the Poonawallas have owned, some in part, and they have followed different routes to the Derby. Storm Again was only third in the "2000" but headed straight for the Derby.  Desert Warrior and Star Superior -- also trained by Rajesh Narredu like A Star Is Born -- ran in the "2000" and won the Ruia before the Derby. The filly Starfire Girl bagged the Oaks-Derby double. Different horses, different paths. This is where the experience and the acumen of the owners comes in. A Star Is Born does have the longest gap between his last run and Derby but he has avoided the changes of locations and travel hassles. Rested for a couple of weeks after the "2000", Rajesh Narredu's ward has been working well in his morning trials since mid-January. 

Faith of Success

Faith of Success (Saamidd - Isola Tiberina) has paid a sum of Rs. 9 lakhs as a Final Entry and she can well afford to do that having won the Oaks and the Derby at Hyderabad. She will be carrying the colours which have previously been atop seven winners of the race. One of those winners was Diabolical who won the Golconda Derby and the very next Sunday scored a major shock victory in the Indian Derby at the odds of 10 to 1. Faith of Success is attempting to replicate the feat of Diabolical. As a winner of two major Classics over the Derby distance, she certainly merits consideration and respect. However, she has a daunting task ahead of her. She won the Golconda Derby narrowly from Stockbridge and Fire Power and that pair was way behind Miracle and Zuccarelli in the Golden Jubilee Deccan Derby, Gr.1. With Neeraj Rawal being claimed to ride Chopin, Akshay Kumar has been booked as a replacement. Akshay Kumar is in fine form but will ride the filly for the first time. With two Classics over 2400 m., Faith of Success will certainly not find the distance a problem and both her wins were hard fought so she is game. She looks certain to get her number hoisted.

One From The Blue

Souza has generally been hitting the front and cutting early fractions and any one of Karthik Ganapathy's two runners could be tasked to do the job for Faith of Success. It is said that you know you are in trouble when the rival's pacemaker gets the better of your own. It means that  the various camps will be watching the early stages of the races with much interest. They may all be bewildered when the field goes past the mile marker in the backstretch and find Chopin, in a dark blue jacket, at the helm of affairs. The Ruia winner may not realistically be expected to last out till the end but he is a natural front runner and can cause "the best laid schemes o' mice an'  men" to "gang aft agley".

Trends (Last Ten Years)

Fifteen starters with an average rating of 80. Average rating of winners 103. Eight previous start winners (four of regional Derbies, three of the Ruia Cup and one of the Indian Oaks). Six renewals going to outstation challengers. Four outstation runners having their first start at Mahalakshmi won. Three winners were top-rated. Two favourites obliged and one 'got-abroad' scored.  Honours among the stud farms are well distributed with Usha, Poonawalla Farms, Hazara and Kunigal getting two winners each. Multidimensional, sire of Alaindair and Immortality is the only stallion with more than one winner. 

Because of limited racing as a result of pandemic restrictions, the 2018 crop, which has run 18 Classics so far, has thrown up some unexpected results. Thirteen horses have won a Classic as a maiden and four of them are from the 2018 crop. Only four favourites have scored and five horses have justified their top rating. Leading trainer so far is  P. Shroff (5 wins), followed by S.S. Attaolahi (3) while Arjun Mangalorkar and Aravind Ganapathy have two each. Among the jockeys, P.S. Chouhan, Neeraj Rawal and Akshay Kumar share the top spot with three wins each with the trio of  S. Anthony Raj, C.S. Jodha and P. Trevor hot on their heels with two wins apiece.

PAST THE POST

Juliette lost the Invitation Cup last December because A. Sandesh misjudged the pace; Billy Evans had the mortification of losing the Indian Derby on Her Majesty only because of the interference caused by his own pacemaker who fell down accidentally; Jagdish (on Aristocrat) and Shinde (on Everynsky), the two best Indian riders in 1981, kept waiting for each other to make the first move and allowed Wally Swinburn on Mohawk to steal the Derby; Malesh Narredu on Set Alight, rather impetuously, took his unbeaten filly to front a bit too fast and too early and lost to Antonios. The Maharaja of Kashmir insisted on Shammu Chavan riding his expensive purchase Tall Story in the Derby. Tall Story did not win but Chavan always believed that had he been allowed to ride Sunny Downs, as he had pleaded, instead of Tall Story, he would have won and Kashmir would have bagged all the five Indian Classics in 1957-58. To err is human. Just that it sometimes deprives some horses of their place in history.