Bold Majesty fancied for Bangalore Derby

Racing : Athens set to challenge the Ganapathy-ward; Torch Bearer may also have a say at the finish in plum event

After a relatively drab outing last year, the Bangalore Winter Derby will be making a ‘rich’ comeback this Republic Day with the stage set for a cracking battle.

Owing to Bangalore Turf Club’s penchant for tradition in having the Winter Derby on Republic Day, leaving it sandwiched between the Hyderabad Derby and the biggest race in the Indian calendar, the Indian Derby, the event was staged in 2014 without a sponsor.

However, business has picked up yet again and some very good horses will be vying for supremacy in the Rs 1.27 crore Legacy Bangalore Derby that will be run over 2400 metres.

By the looks of it, the 12-horse field Derby promises to be a very open affair with one emerging marginal favourite and at least five very much capable of crossing the line first that should have the fans and punters licking their lips.

Leading the way at even money odds is Bold Majesty, the four-year-old gelding trained by veteran S Ganapathy and set to be piloted by A Sandesh. What holds him in good stead is form and momentum, the two most important factors heading into a big event.

Last October he rode to a convincing victory in the Mysore Derby and two months later he galloped to glory in the Bangalore 2000 Guineas, showing his coming of age.

The joint most experienced horse in the field along with Alameda with 13 runs, Bold Majesty has triumphed totally five times and scored three second-place finishes as well. Bold Majesty had finished fourth in the Summer Derby last July and as such, Ganapathy knows what must be done to get the job accomplished.

Also capable of landing the jackpot is Authentic (Suraj Narredu astride), Azzurro (P Trevor), Torch Bearer (David Allan), Alameda (PS Chouhan) and Athens (Colm O’Donoghue).

Although the S Padmanabhan-trained Torch Bearer has won only twice from seven races, he gave a good account of himself at the Calcutta Derby early this month, finishing third after having led the race for most part. He also emerged runner-up in the Calcutta 2000 Guineas and this may be the race where he realises his full potential.

Just like Torch Bearer, Alameda -- one of two fillies in the field along with Athens -- has impressed many, scoring nine second-place finishes with the sole victory coming at the Asian Racing Federation Million last March where she beat Bold Majesty. With experience on her side and PS Chouhan guiding it, a well worked out ploy could see it come away victorious.

It’s always hard to ignore the Narredus. At the Summer Derby last year, Suraj (astride Be Safe) combined with his trainer uncle Mallesh to completely decimate the field in one of the most lop-sided main events.

Things, however, won’t be easy this time and Suraj will have to conjure all his top-level expertise to guide Authentic -- trained by his brother Rajesh -- home. Suraj, incidentally, won the Golconda Derby Stakes on Sunday with Quasar and he would be determined to make it two in two.

Athens showed her pedigree in the Bangalore Oaks earlier this month with a fine victory, which very importantly, was over 2400 metres. 

The contenders are plenty and one needs to wait and see what tricks each one has up one’s sleeves to come triumphant.
 The card

1. Vijayanagar Cup (div II) (rated 20-45) 1200M, 1.30 PM
1. Hidden Hero (Narayana Gowda)    60    R Vaibhav    1
2. Starhunt (Pradeep)    59    G Sai Vamshi    10
3. Celestial Storm (Inayathulla)    58.5    Vivek    3
4. Allez Royale (Prasanna K)    58    T S Jodha    2
5. Hero Worship (Dominic)    58    M Mark    9
6. Ding Dang Dong (Samar Singh)    57    A Vishwanath    4
7. Alecia (Azhar Ali)    56    P Trevor    6
8. Vito (Warren S)    56    Gnaneshwar    8
9. Enchantress (Sharat K)    55.5    Nitin Singh    11
10. Renee (Neil Darashah)    55.5    Arshad Alam    12
11. Joey (D Byramji)    54.5    S Shiva Kumar    5
12. Roulette (Prithviraj)    54.5    Ravinder S    7
     
Hidden Hero 1; Alecia 2; Allez Royale 3.
2. N.R.C.E Cup (terms) 1400M, 2.00 PM
1. Oxford Opinion (Ganapathy)    57    A Sandesh    2
2. New Alliance (Puttanna)    55.5    PS Chouhan    5
3. Afore (Prasana K)    53    T S Jodha    7
4. Blazing Touch (Sirajuddin)    53    Ashhad Asbar    3
5. Castle Key (A Mangalorkar)    53    P Trevor    1
6. Good Prospect (Prithviraj)    53    L Beuzelin    8
7. Iginition (Narayana Gowda)    53    Rajesh Kumar    10
8. Ravelnation (D Byramji)    53    I Chisty    6
9. Yoursohandsome (Pradeep)    53    G Sai Vamshi    12
10. Dancing Princess (Neil Darashah)    51.5    Arshad Alam    9
11. Edge Of Eternity (Byramji)    51.5    Vinod Shinde    4
12. Heaven Is Here (S Attaollahi)    51.5    S Zervan    11   
               
Heaven Is Here 1; Oxford Opinion 2; New Alliance 3.
3.Bangalore Race Course 152nd year
Commemoration trophy 1600M, 2.30 PM
1. Acclaimed (S Attaollahi)    60    P Trevor    5
2. Arrogant Appraoch (S Attaollahi)    59.5    A Sandesh    1
3. Duma (Eshwer)    58    K G Steyn    4
4. Ethophian (Narayana Gowda)    57.5    Rajesh Kumar    3
5. Im Different (Prasanna K)    57.5    P S Chouhan    6
6. Alexandra Mills (D Byramji)    56.5    Srinath    2

Alexandra Mills 1; Arrogant Approach 2; Acclaimed 3.
4. Indian republic trophy (rtd 60 and above) 1800M, 3.00 PM
1. Evraz (D Byramji)    60.5    I Chisty    1
2. Amistad (Kishan Thomas)    59.5    Gnaneshwar    2
3. Royal Rein (Amit Caddy)    58    A Imran K    3
4. Raphire (Inayathulla)    55.5    Vivek    6
5. Star Of Destiny (S Attaollahi)    53.5    P Trevor    4
6. Stimulate (A Mangalorkar)    51.5    S Zervan    7
7. Connemara (S Attaollahi)    50    P S Chouhan    5 

Connemara 1; Amistad 2; Star Of Destiny 3.
5. Vijayanagar cup (div I) (rated 20-45) 1200M, 3.35 PM
1. Mandarin (Aravind G)    61.5    P Trevor    3
2. Our Little Dragon (Warren S)    61    Suraj Narredu    5
3. She’s Stunning (Narayana Gowda)    61    Srinath    12
4. Miracles Of Life (Inayathulla)    60.5    T S Jodha    9
5. Rare And Grogeous (A Mangalorkar)    60.5    R Marshall    11
6. Black Areca (Puttanna)    59.5    A Ramu    1
7. Hello Boss (Prithviraj)    59.5    Ravinder S    4
8. Spanish Moon (Padmanabhan)    59    David Allan    8
9. Viva Diva (Kishan Thomas)    58.5    Rajesh Kumar    7
10. Youre Ashwashakthi (Pradeep)    58.5    P S Chouhan    2
11. Fruit Prince (Dominic)    58    Prabhakaran    10
12. Feet On Fire (Hidayat K)    56    A Vishwanath    6

Miracles Of Life 1; Spanish Moon 2; Youre Ashwashakthi 3.
6. Vidhana Soudha Cup (div I) (rated 40-65) 1400M, 4.10 PM
1. Cool Approach (Sharat K)    62.5    Nitin Singh    5
2. Mickey Mouse (Narayana Gowda)    62.5    Kiran Rai    6
3. Next Move (Amit Caddy)    62    Raja Rao    10
4. Absolute Red (Faraz Arshad)    60.5    A Qureshi    9
5. Assiduous (S Attaollahi)    60    S Zervan    11
6. Power Of Time  (Amit Caddy)    58    A Imran K    7
7. Prazsky (Md Khan)    57    A Vishwanath    8
8. Arziki (Narayan Gowda)    56.5    Chetan Kalay    1
9. Volcano (Inayathulla)    56    Ravinder S    4
10. Beauty Is Truth (Narayana Gowda)    55.5    R Vaibhav    2
11. Manta Ray (Warren S)    55    Arshad Alam    3

Power Of Time 1; Assiduous 2; Mickey Mouse 3.
7. Legacy Bangalore Derby (Grade I) 2400M, 4.45 PM
1. Authentic (R Narredu)    57    Suraj Narredu    10
2. Azzurro (S Attaollahi)    57    P Trevor    7
3. Bold Majesty (Ganapathy)    57    A Sandesh    5
4. Del Santo (Hidayat)    57    Srinath    9
5. Havelock Prince (Mahesh)    57    C S Jodha    1
6. Net Champ (D Netto)    57    L Beuzelin    11
7. Passing Fulcrum (S Attaollahi)    57    S Zervan    8
8. Prize Finder (Narayana Gowda)    57    Gnaneshwar    6
9. Speed Hawk (Warren S)    57    A Imran K    3
10. Torch Bearer (Padmanabhan)    57    David Allan    4
11. Alameda (L D’Silva)    55.5    P S Chouhan    12
12. Athens (Todywalla)    55.5    O Donoghue    2

Bold Majesty 1; Athens 2; Torch Bearer 3.
8. talkad trophy (rated 20-45) 1600M, 5.20 PM
1. Capitalize (Narayana Gowda)    62.5    Gnaneshwar    10
2. Abba (A Mangalorkar)    61.5    David Allan    5
3. Seven Of Hearts (Sharat K)    61    Nitin Singh    9
4. Aceempressjessie (Dominic)    60    P S Chouhan    12
5. Jet Set Go (Inayathulla)    58    T S Jodha    4
6. Aqua Aria (Neil Darashah)    56.5    P Trevor    3
7. Summer Dawn (Amit Caddy)    56.5    A Ramu    11
8. Zermatt (Manohar)    56.5    Irvan Singh    1
9. Conquistador (A Mangalorkar)    54.5    R Marshall    7
10. Ice Kingdom (Narayana Gowda)    54.5    Kiran Rai    2
11. Jewel Lady (Warren S)    53.5    Arshad Alam    8
12. Lucky Thirteen (Narayan Gowda)    52.5    Rajesh Kumar    6
   
Capitalize 1; Abba 2; Summer Dawn 3.
9. vidhana soudha cup (div II) (rated 40-65) 1400M, 6.00 PM
1. Atlas Power (Sharat K)    60.5    Nitin Singh    2
2. Kingston Town (Amit Caddy)    59.5    A Ramu    5
3. One Of A Kind (Puttanna)     55.5    I Chisty    11
4. Wind Tunnel (R Narredu)    55.5    Ajeet Kumar    10
5. Sunday Cruz (Narayana Gowda)    55    Chetan Kalay    3
6. Wings Of Fortune (Narayana Gowda)    54.5    Rajesh Kumar    4
7. Extra Spark (Sirajuddin)    54    Sahanawaz    7
8. Summer Gold (Amit Caddy)    54    P Mani    1
9. King Of The Court (Padmanabhan)    53    David Allan    9
10. Lads Gladiator (Warren S)    52.5    Arshad Alam    8
11. Amazon Bay (Nityanand)    51    Vivek    6

Kingston Town 1; Wings Of Fortune 2;
One Of A Kind 3.

Day’s best: Alexandra Mills.
Double: Power Of Time and Capitalize
Jackpot: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
I treble: 1, 2, 3. II treble: 4, 5, 6. III treble:  7, 8, 9.