STATS, FACTS & TRIVIA OF THE INDIAN DERBY.

2- Number of Indian Derbies won by Suraj Narredu, making him the only Indian to win two derbies among the active jockeys. YS Srinath & CS Jodha are the others to win 1 each among the active ones.

10- Number of Indian Derbies for the Poonawalla Stud Farm. It makes them the joint second with Manjri Stud Farm. Usha stud farm is at the top with 13 Derbies.

18- Number of years it took for the Poonawallas to lead a winner in their colours. They last won this race in 2001 with Storm Again in which they bought a share from Dr Vijay Mallya. It was ridden by Jockey Pesi Shroff and trainer by JS Dhariwal.

5- Number of Indian Derbies won by the Narredus as jockeys and/or trainers. Amazing Bay (1996), Indictment (1997), Super Storm (2013), Be Safe (2015) & Star Superior (2019). Interestingly, Rajesh Narredu won as an owner in 2013 and as a trainer in 2019 on the same date – 3^rd Feb.

48- Number of Derbies won by colts/rigs. Fillies are a distant second with 19 wins. Geldings have won 9.

1- First Indian Derby won by Excellent Art, the sire of Star Superior. Out of 5 winter derbies this year, Excellent Art’s progenies won two derbies (Star Superior & Indian Pharaoh) while finished second in the other three (Barbaresco, Isn’t She Lovely & Indian Pharaoh). Excellent Art also won a Derby in monsoon, the Deccan Derby with Star Superior.

5- The verdict of Star Superior’s Derby win, the biggest winning margin in terms of lengths in the last 7 years. In 2012, In The Spotlight won by 7 lengths.

3- Number of Indian Derby winners in last 5 years, who had won the RR Ruia Gold Cup in their previous start (Be Safe, Rochester & Star Superior). The curse of RR Ruia Gold cup is gradually becoming a thing of the past.

2- Number of favorites to have won this race in last 10 years. Only Jacqueline (2010) & Be Safe (2015) have obliged as favorites. Surprisingly, both were got-abroads.

2:28.92 – The time Star Superior took to hit the wire. The fastest timing in last four renewals.

82- Star Superior’s rating at the time of running the Derby. He became the lowest-rated winner of this race in the last 10 years. Antonios was rated just 72 when he won in 2009.

8- Number of country-bred horses to win this race in last 10 renewals. Surprisingly, none of them were favorites in their respective races.

0- Number of stallions to have sired more than one winner of Indian Derby in last ten years. King Charlmagne, China Visit, Alnasr Alwasheek, Rebuttal, Multidimensional, Holy Roman Emperor, Burden Of Proof, Win Legend, Phoenix Tower & Excellent Art all have won only once.

6- Number of years in succession where a filly has run in top 2 places of Indian Derby. Starry Eyes (2^nd, 2014), Tiger Tops (2^nd, 2015), Myrtlewood (2^nd, 2016), Hall Of Famer (1^st, 2017), Lady In Lace (2^nd, 2018) & Adjudicate (2^nd in 2019).

19- Number of years of drought that the country has seen to witness an Indian Triple Crown winner. Smart Chieftain was the last one to achieve this feat in the year 1999-2000. Sir Cecil looked like a strong prospect to repeat it, however the fate had other plans.

0- Number of local Mumbai horses to finish in top 3 in the 2019 Derby. All the top three were outstation challengers. This has probably happened for first time in Indian Derby’s history (subject to further research).

10- Number of years in succession where a Pesi Shroff trained horse finished in top 3. When Sacred Roman could finish only 4^th, it became first such instance since 2009 where his ward didn’t run in place money. Interestingly, out of 10 which ran in top three from 2009-2018, nine of them were fillies. The other one was Hemisphere (Master Shifu), who was a gelding.

22- Numbers of years since a Pune Derby winner won the Indian Derby. Indictment, trained by Vinayak & ridden by jockey Malesh Narredu was the last one to do a Pune Derby-Indian Derby double in 1996-97.

P.S.: - While every effort has been made to present correct numbers, corrections to the above points are welcome. Thankyou.