The punters will not particularly enjoy this one but the Bangalore winter Derby will certainly have the spectators eating out of its hands at the Bangalore Turf Club on Sunday.

Derbys, most of the time, has at least one favourite running the race, making punting a fairly straightforward affair. Come Republic Day, that will not be the case since none of the runners in the 12-horse Grade I race can be considered an out-and-out favourite.
The depleted field is a result of the upcoming Indian Derby (in Mumbai on February 2) for which most top horses have entered.

Still, if one were to go by recent performances and forced to pick a favourite, Karthik Ganapathy-ward The Ministerian will be the one expected to cross the finish line first at the end of a tedious 1.5-mile (2400 metres) race.

The elegant four-year-old gelding, who is to be steered by B Sreekanth out of Gate 10, has never run this distance so it remains to be seen if he can live up to his recent form that made him a top contender at the Mumbai races a couple of weeks ago.

That said, none of the horses -- barring Golconda Oaks (Grade II) winner Sur La Tete, Laguna Beach and Argiano -- has exercised its stamina over 2400 metres.

So, Agostini (L Beuzelin up) and Arrogant Approach (Imran Chisty up), who are the second and third picks respectively, too stand as good a chance. The Kunigal Farm-bred Agostini has won three races at the BTC and is definitely the one to look out for but he has had issues with consistency, reducing the possibility of this colt finishing ahead of the field.

Arrogant Approach too faces similar problem but this gelding is known to pull off surprises so punters will have quite a sum riding on this young S Attaollahi ward.

Out of the three horses which have completed the distance, late entrant Sur La Tete is the only one with a chance of truly upsetting the order. The young filly, for whom the owners had to shell out a whopping Rs 8 lakh to feature in the race, is the only Classic winner in the field.

Jockey David Allan will need to all his skills if the four-year-old has to finish among top three to make up the for the money that was used to enrol the horse in the first place, let alone take the Rs 63,12,000 prize money for the winner and the trophy worth Rs 1,75,000.

There is a strong feeling that Sur La Tete’s two-and-a-quarter-length victory at the Oaks in Hyderabad over 2400 metres was a flash in the pan given the inability of the rest of the field to hold thier own. That may be true but bear in mind the scenario that this filly will find itself in on Sunday is not too different from the conditions that prevailed at the beginning of the New Year.

Then of course, there is the docile-looking Argiano. He stands a far slimmer chance of grabbing the headlines when compared to Sur La Tete, but one would be foolhardy to discount his performances in Kolkata.

With three wins in six races at the hands of Shailesh Shinde, he has proven to be a worthy contender. This is, however, the gelding’s first out-of-Kolkata race and he will be ridden by C Alford for the first time so his ability to adapt to these dramatic changes will be put to test.

Supreme Regime (F Da’Silva up) and Czar Of Romance (A Sandesh up) should also be added to the contenders’ list given their ability to punch above their weight. However, neither has registered a win this season so it won’t come as a surprise if they are relegated to pace-makers’ role.

This is perhaps the only event of this stature on the calendar that has not managed to rope in a sponsor. While that is a let down, the sight of 12 horses powering their way towards one common goal on a lush green stretch will more than make up for it.

THE CARD

1. Bharachukki cup (div ii) (rated 20-45) 1200M, 1.30 pm
1. Vigorous (I Ghatala)    62    S John    7
2. Blackbird (Faraz Arshad)    58.5    Christopher    11
3. Oceanic Wind (Babu Rao)    55.5    P Kiran Rai    8
4. Aero Star (S Narredu)    54    S Hussain    1
5. Clueless (Lokanath)    54    Indrajeet S    4
6. Summer Sensation (Amit Caddy)    53.5    Suraj Narredu    3
7. Tradition (Puttanna)    53.5    Mudassar    5
8. Prazsky (Dhariwal)    53    (JWDL)    6
9. Flash On The Water (Manohar)    50.5    Arshad Alam    10   
10. Icecream (Narayana Gowda)    50.5    G Adarsh    12
11. Thejaguar (Warren S)    50.5    SK Paswan    9
12. Best Cruise (Sharat K)    50    M Roushan    2   

Summer Sensation 1; Vigorous 2; Aero Star 3.
2. NRCE Cup (terms) 1400M, 2.00 pm
1. Cadburry (Puttanna)    57    R Anand    8
2. Fairwood Park (A Mangalorkar)    57     I Chisty    4
3. Indian Legend (Prithviraj)    57    Jagadeesh    1
4. Kings Kid (Sirajuddin)    57    Christopher    3
5. Real Supreme (Neil Darashah)    57    TS Jodha    5
6. Secret Dimension (Lokanath)    57    SK Paswan    9
7. Sharp Witted (Ganapathy)    57    B Sreekanth    2
8. Supreme Dominator (S Narredu)    57    Suraj Narredu    7
9. Connemara (Dhariwal)    55.5    (JWDL)    6
10. Southern Fantasy (Ganapathy)    55.5    R Vaibhav    10   
   
Supreme Dominator 1; Connemara 2; Fairwood Park 3.
3. Mysore race club trophy (terms) 1600M, 2.30 pm
1. Immense (A Mangalorkar)    60    S John    6
2. Super Storm (S Narredu)    60    Suraj Narredu    5
3. Equine Lover (Padmanabhan)    57    David Allan    2
4. Foswell (D Byramji)    56    R Marshall    3
5. Inquisition (D Byramji)    56    I Chisty    4
6. Ridgeway (A Mangalorkar)    56    Srinath    1
7. Madame Bovary (D Byramji)    51    Vinod Shinde    7

Super Storm 1; Immense 2; Ridgeway 3.
4. bharachukki Cup (Div I) (rated 20-45) 1200M, 3.00 pm
1. Cannes (S Narredu)    62.5    A Sundaram    11
2. Gustavo (Faraz Arshad)    62    Indrajeet S    2
3. Jackie Oh (I Ghatala)    62    S John    10
4. Active Grey (Narayana Gowda)    60    Kiran Rai    4
5. Jet Set Go (Inayathulla)    57.5    Gnaneshwar    3
6. Cheddar Face (Byramji)    56.5    I Chisty    9
7. Oriental Star (Prithviraj)    56.5    Jagadeesh    1
8. Feet On Fire (Hidayat K)    56    Christopher    12
9. Arta (S Attaollahi)    55.5    R Marshall    8
10. Cadogan (Nityanand)    55.5    Shoban Babu    6
11. Fire Storm (Britto)    54    Arshad Alam    5
12. Gagan Star (Samar Singh)    54    S Hussain    7                
Jackie Oh 1; Cheddar Face 2; Cadogan 3.
5. vidhana soudha cup (div i) (rated 40-65) 1400M, 3.35 pm
1. Athletic Star (Narayana Gowda)    62.5    Kiran Rai    3
2. Ice Cutter (I Ghatala)    62.5    Suraj Narredu    12
3. Magnitude Star (Sharat K)    62.5    Prabhakaran    6
4. Samara Sun (Dhariwal)    61    R Vaibhav    4
5. Chiron (Hidayat K)    59.5    JWDL    11
6. Lads Ability (Warren S)    59.5    Noornabi    1
7. Wrekin (A Mangalorkar)    59.5    S John    5
8. Summer Sun (Amit Caddy)    59    Christopher    10
9. Abbas Dreams (Babu Rao)    58.5    Rajesh Babu    9
10. Amazon Bay (Nityanand)    58.5    I Chisty    8
11. Supreme (S Attaollahi)    57    R Marshall    7
12. Super Surprise (Samar Singh)    55    B Harish    2   
   
Ice Cutter 1; Summer Sun 2; Abbas Dreams 3.
6. indian republic trophy (rated 60 and above) 1600M, 4.10 pm   
1. Talisker (Lokanath)    62.5    Prabhakaran    3
2. Ratham (Dhariwal)    61    S John    8
3. Spaniard (Neil Darashah)    60.5    Arshad Alam    6
4. Aumento (S Narredu)    57.5    Srinath    5
5. Strike The Stars (Ganapathy)    56    F Da’Silva    2
6. Ice Storm (I Ghatala)    55.5    Dashrath S     1
7. Violent Storm (Byramji)    55.5    Irvan Singh    4
8. Lad King (Warren S)    55    Christopher    7
9. Potomac (Hidayat K)    53    JWDL    9                   
Aumento 1; Ratham 2; Spaniard 3.
7. bangalore derby (grade i) (terms) 2400M, 4.45 pm
1. Ace Badraan (I Ghatala)    57    Dashrath S    6
2. Agostini (Dhariwal)    57    L Beuzelin    12
3. Alfons De Borja (A Mangalorkar)    57    S John    9
4. Amazonas (S Narredu)    57    R Marshall    3
5. Ambitious Reward (Lokanath)    57    Suraj Narredu    10
6. Argiano (Vijay S)    57    C Alford     7
7. Arrogant Approach (S Attaollahi)    57    I Chisty    8
8. Czar Of Romance (Dominic)    57    A Sandesh    1
9. Supreme Regime (Ganapathy)    57    F Da’Silva    11
10. The Ministerian (Karthik G)    57    B Sreekanth    5
11. Laguna Beach (Deshmukh)    55.5    JWDL    4
12. Sur La Tete (Padmanabhan)    55.5    David Allan    2               
The Ministerian 1; Agostini 2; Arrogant Approach 3.
8. nethravathi trophy (rated 20-45) 1400M, 5.25 pm
1. Dofantasy (I Ghatala)    62.5    Indrajeet S    8
2. Regal Soldier (Prithviraj)    61    JWDL    2
3. Aceempressjessie (Dominic)    59.5    Christopher    5
4. Cheval D’Or (S Attaollahi)    59.5    R Marshall    1
5. Frankness (D Byramji)    59    I Chisty    6
6. As Good As It Gets (Amit Caddy)    58.5    Ashok Kumar    12
7. Manta Ray (Warren S)    57.5    Noornabi    4
8. Noble Reward (Lokanath)    55    SK Paswan    3
9. Cherry Hinton (Dhariwal)    54.5    Md Shoaib    7
10. Stimulator (Faraz Arshad)    54    Arshad Alam    10
11. Tanganyika (Padmanabhan)    54    Appu    9
12. Glorious Moments (Ganapathy)    50.5    R Vaibhav    11           
Frankness 1; Dofantasy 2; Tanganyika 3.
9. Vidhana Soudha cup (div II) (rated 40-65) 1400M, 6.00 pm
1. Wind Tunnel (S Narredu)    60.5    K Chethana    2
2. Click (Narayana Gowda)    60    Kiran Rai    6
3. Ballantoy (D Byramji)    56    Irvan Singh     12
4. Nocturnal Hunter (Dominic)    56    Noornabi    4
5. Magnomical (Lokanath)    55.5    Prabhakaran    10
6. Midnight Cruze (Padmanabhan)    55.5    Appu    1
7. Simpleton (Warren S)    55.5    S John    8
8. Zermatt (Md Khan)    55.5    Christopher    7
9. Entertainer (Faraz Arshad)    54.5    Jagadeesh    11
10. Roshan Star (Samar Singh)    54.5    S Asgar    9
11. Volans (Prasanna K)    52.5    Arshad Alam    3
12. Arun (Babu Rao)    51    G Adarsh    5    
Click 1; Simpleton 2; Zermatt 3.
Day’s best: Ice Cutter. Double: Supreme Dominator and Frankness.
Jackpot: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. I mini-jackpot : 2, 4, 6, 8. II mini-jackpot : 3, 5, 7, 9. I treble: 4, 5, 6. II treble: 7, 8, 9.