Fynbos, Sovereign King fancied

Bengaluru: A strong field of 16 contenders will line-up behind the gates at 4.00 pm, vying for the top prize in the The Zavaray S Poonawalla Bangalore Summer Derby come Sunday at the Bangalore Turf Club. 

A day prior to what promises to be a close race, all eyes will be on the odds-on favourites -- Fynbos, from the stables of Pesi Shroff, and Sovereign King, trained by Adhiraj Singh Jodha. While Fynbos was the winner of the Banglaore Fillies Trial Stakes, Sovereign King has the Colts Trial Stakes title to its credit. 

Ten top champion colts and six well-bred fillies will come under the starters flag for the richest event of the summer races that has a total stakes of Rs 2.50 crore on offer with the winner taking home Rs 1.22 crore on the Derby Day.

The main threat to Trevor Patel-ridden Fynbos and Antony Raj-piloted Sovereign King will emanate from the vastly improved Prokofiev to be ridden by Suraj Narredu from the stables of Prasanna Kumar.

As the race-loving Bengaluru crowd will be busy whispering about the pre-race favourites, the three-year-old filly Sunshine is touted as the surprise package. In what will be only her third event, the Irfan Ghatala-trained and S Saqlain-ridden horse, is looking good to challenge the more experienced competitors. 

“She is still very inexperienced,” Ghatala told DH about his expectations from Sunshine. 

“I will be only focusing on making sure that she has a smooth race. As long she doesn’t get into any kind of traffic jam on the track, I think, she will run a good race. She has the ability to stay,” he offered. 

In the Indian Pattern Committee Trophy, Prasanna Kumar-trained Money Bags is considered as day’s best betting proposition in the card of eight events. 

Though light showers cut up the track a little here and there on Saturday and a threat of downpour on Sunday, the Bengaluru Summer Derby of 2025, with eight races in total, hopes the weather gods take a break during the event which promises to be an engaging affair.