Indian Derby: Juliette's your best bet

Filly Juliette is the one to beat today

It is often debated what is the attribute that turns a horse into an equine superstar. Is it the breeding or bloodlines? Is it training or temperament? Is it the jockey skill? or is it a big heart and courage to overcome any adversity during the running of the race?

The mile-and-a-half trip of the grade 1, Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby which is run around the Mahalaxmi oval tests almost all of those attributes, and therefore, whosoever wins the coveted race is unanimously accorded the title of the champion of champions.

This Derby is no different, in fact, after many, many years, it actually boasts of a record number of regional champions lining up to grab the most coveted crown of their career. The fact that today at 5.30 pm exactly 20 horses will jump from the gates placed opposite the winning post and immediately swing to the right, towards the Hornby Vellard corner, can throw all calculations of form and class absolutely topsy turvy. The discussion of form therefore becomes superfluous, and if you must know, my top three choices, with trainer-jockey combinations, are Juliette (Karthik G, Colm O'Donoghue), War Hammer (Prasanna Kumar, Suraj Narredu) & Trouvaille. And yes, I think there is a joker lurking in there--winner of only one race so far, and that is Armaity (Pesi Shroff, Chris Hayes) who may, if the luck of the race favours her, display the most dramatic turn of foot in the final two furlongs.

Whatever the result, one just hopes there will be no hard luck story for the most deserving horse, which, according to me, is the Oaks winning filly Juliette.

First race at 2.30 pm.
Selections:

Dr M A M Ramaswamy Multi-Million (For 3y, maidens; 1600)
Pissaro 1, Salvo 2, Taimur 3.

Rusi Patel Trophy - Gr 3 (For 4y&o; 1600m)
La Rondine 1, Cosmic Ray 2, Flying Visit 3.

Ebco Worksmart Breeders' Produce Stakes - Gr 3 (For 3y; 1400m)
Monarchos 1, Forest Flame 2, Rani Jindan 3.

S M Shah Eclipse Stakes of India - Gr 2 (For 4y&o; 2000m)
Salazaar 1, Roberta 2, Tasawwur 3.

B K Rattonsey Memorial Maiden Multi-Million (For 3y, maidens; 1200m)
Golden Oaks 1, El Capitan 2, Isle Of Sky 3.

(Highlighted box starts from here)

The 6th race at 5.30 pm
Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby - Gr 1
For Indian horses, 4y only
Distance: 2,400m

Sr # | Horse Name | Wt | (Rating) | Trainer | Jockey | Gate
1 CONSIGLIORI | 57 | (84) | LVR Deshmukh | P Trevor | 9;
2 DADDY'S PRIDE | 57 | (57) | Subhag Singh | TS Jodha | 20;
3 IMPAVID | 57 | (83) | A Mangalorkar | David Egan | 18;
4 JUSTIFIED | 57 | (36) | Imtiaz A Sait | A Imran Khan | 13;
5 LIGHTNING BOLT | 57 | (77) | LVR Deshmukh | Akshay Kumar | 17;
6 NORTHERN ALLIANCE | 57 | (79) | NB Devaney | Yash Narredu | 11;
7 ROYAL CRYSTAL | 57 | (88) | A Mangalorkar | S. John | 16;
8 SIR SUPREMO | 57 | (83) | S Narredu | NS Parmar | 8;
9 SOUTHERN RULER | 57 | (72) | S Ganapathy | CS Jodha | 4;
10 SULTAN SULEIMAN | 57 | (61) | Altaf Hussain | Neeraj Rawal | 12;
11 TOPNOTCH | 57 | (68) | Shafiq Khan | Imran Chisty | 5;
12 TRAFALGAR | 57 | (81) | JE Mckeown | YS Srinath | 14;
13 TROUVAILLE | 57 | (78) | SK Sunderji | Nicky Mackay | 6;
14 VICTORIOUS SERMON | 57 | (82) | Vishal Gaikwad | A Sandesh | 2;
15 WAR HAMMER | 57 | (92) | Prasanna Kumar | Suraj Narredu | 10;
16 WIZARD OF STOCKS | 57 | (65) | P Shroff | Leigh Roche | 3;
17 ARMAITY | 55.5 | (52) | P Shroff | CD Hayes | 7;
18 JULIETTE | 55.5 | (87) | Karthik G | Colm O'Donoghue | 1;
19 THAILAND | 55.5 | (67) | A Mangalorkar | S Zervan | 19;
20 WELL CONNECTED | 55.5 | (75) | S Padmanabhan | David Allan | 15.

Selections:
#18 Juliette 1,
#15 War Hammer 2,
#13 Trouvaille 3.
Upset: #17 Armaity

(Highlighted box ends here)

Padmini & Gobind Jhangiani Million (Class III; 1200m)
Dandi March 1, Mzilikazi 2, Headway 3.

Tattersalls Million (Class IV; 1000m)
Palomar 1, Copper Queen 2, C'est L'Amour 3.

Recommendations
Best bet: Golden Oaks (5-6)
Upsets: Melania (1-7) & Barack (7-6)

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