Mysore Derby -a preview

Mysore Derby contenders : A short Preview.

With 40+ entries it is saddening to see that only 7 have accepted to race confirming that horseracing has become a commercial game(sport).

I’ll analyse the chances of following runners only – one of which is likely to win this classic.

1) Fleet Indian
2) Messalina
3) Red Renegade
4) Sprint Star

Messalina (Alnasr Alwasheek-Palazzio) has an ‘inverted’ pedigree. By ‘inverted’ I mean that mostly the sire of a classic contestant is chosen as a sprinter/miler while the dam normally is a route runner or a stayer . In Messalina’s case it is ‘ulta’. The sire is a miler/ stayer who has produced several Derby winners while the dam is a confirmed sprinter/miler. But same was the case with Icebreaker (Alnasr Alwasheek- Iceberg) who won 2 races of 2400m and placed in Indian Derby. These ‘aberrations’- (I don’t consider them aberrations) in normal situations weaken the classical breeding theories. These anomalies if correlated with latest advances in genetic research will confirm that old presumptions, were not wrong. But this is not the time for technical discussions and let us concentrate on the racing prospect of the runner. Though a close scrutiny of Iceberg and Palazzio reveals a very close similarity and equality between their racing performance and pedigree components!
Messalina (Roman dosage: 10-1-9-4-0) clearly indicates that she can stay 2000m because her dosage is very similar to Icebreaker(12-1-11-4-0) and if Icebreaker can win 2 races of 2400m , Messalina can also win a race of 2000m! But these are conjectures borne out of similes which may or may not be true. We will analyse the pedigree a bit more carefully.

Alnasr Alwasheek, the sire of Messalina has produced two Indian Derby winners and
A number of black type winners. Sadlers Wells-paternal grandsire was a close second in French Derby(2400m)
Palazzio(8-3-8-0-1) though termed a sprinter has a strain of staying blood and will reinforce the staying traits of the sire enabling her to go the distance of 2000m. Palazzio’s dam – Stately Home(2-2-2-0-0) has won few regional classics at Ooty and Delhi and one of her son Rapier did place III in Indian Derby .Santiago(Hafir)(3-4-4-1-2) – sire of Stately Home reinforces the staying ability of Messalina.
Performance of Messalina on the race track had been eye catching. After winning a nondescript race during Bangalore summer she tried her luck in a grade 2 race(62) at Pune and ended second , 1 ½ lengths behind Sea Ruler who has beaten Cabriolet convincingly by conceding 3 kg. and Cabriolet lost Pune Derby by neck. She(Messalina) revealed her class in this defeat! She was 6 lengths behind the winner at 600m and ended 1 ½ lengths behind at the winning post. Correlate these dry facts and you may realize that she is one of the prime contender for the winning bracket . Of course her Hyderabad 1000G win only reinforces this observation.


Sprint Star( Ontario- Royal Retreat)-(3-1-6-4-0) is a funny name for a thoroughbred whose pedigree says that he is an outright stayer and not a sprinter! After his win in Colts Trial the connections gladly paid Rs. 10,00,000/- to enter him in the Bangalore Derby and lying last but one till600m ended VII, a neck behind Gypsy Magic.
Sprint Star is the son of Ontario(4-4-6-8-2) a hybrid of speed ,precociousness (Storm Cat, Storm Bird) coupled with endurance, stubbornness, durability (Bustino , Jim French). A strange genetic mix of speed (from Storm Cat and Storm Bird) and stamina and endurance (from Bustino and Jim French) has bestowed an acceleration and the ability to sustain it- provided it is exploited correctly, successfully and improved gradually. This was proved successfully when he won Mysore 2000Guineas. With Bustino’s staying capacity and Jim French’s indefatigable (he ran 11 races in 4 months- 10 of them Stakes races!) traits he is sure to make his adversaries sweat for every inch of the final furlong, provided he is ‘sincere’ unlike Bangalore Derby ! This race is a tossup between him and Messalina !


Fleet Indian(Tejano- Afrodita) has a sprinter/miler as a sire and a stayer as the dam –a standard prescription of present day racing. His sire Bold Russian(8-5-8-8-1) and dam Afrodita(5-2-3-4-0) who did not race but did produce Brown Sugar (Hyderabad Derby Winner) and Arizza who placed III in Bangalore Oaks confirmed that staying 2000m or 2400m should be easy for him. But his performance belies his pedigree!

He was beaten by Gypsy Magic by 1 ½ lengths in a1600m race in which he did take over the lead at 300m and lost to Gypsy Magic at 200m indicating that if ridden in check and ’sincerely’ he may prove many of us wrong! His half brother Brown Sugar did win Hyderabad Derby and placed III in Bangalore winter Derby(2400m) .But the question is why was he loitering 5 to 6 lengths behind the leader in race no 116 (Bangalore) and then put up a show of closing in on winner from 200m. His ‘performance’ in Hyderabad Derby was another ‘repeat’ performance. From draw no 1 he led for first 50m and fell back to IV/V on rails till 800m moving with Fair Option and Sparks in mid bunch but moved out gradually to far out and while Sparks took turn 3 horse wide he was 8 ‘horse wide’ at bend and 2 ½ lengths behind Fair Option at 200m. Hard ridden now he ended Nk behind Fair Option and 3+ lengths behind the winner. If remained at rails in a soft going and waited he would have saved 3 to 4 lengths !
The connections and the rider may be in a better position than me to explain this weird phenomenon ! How he runs in Mysore Derby will be interesting to watch.

Red Renegade(9-3-15-0-1) won a 1600m race from start to finish in a reasonably good time and though his dam Sky Rocket has to show nothing to talk about but the grand dam Bazooka Babe has produced 2 very good stayers in Moment of Glory and beautiful Babe. He tried his luck in Hyderabad Monsoon Derby and was prominent till bend before fading out in the straight. Can he win Mysore Derby ? Maybe, I am not sure...