Come race day, it will be battle of sexes - By Mohit Lalvani | TOI
Posted on - 04 Feb 2017
Come race day, it will be battle of sexes
By Mohit Lalvani
TOI
DERBY Weekend has arrived and Sunday will see the emergence of a new King of the Turf. Only, on this Sunday it may be a Queen.
By all accounts, the Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby partnered by Signature is a three-horse race with one colt braving the onslaught of two fillies in what is clearly a battle of genders. Serjeant at Arms is the colt and his story is remarkable. Ignored as a yearling for his dimuninitive stature, he was shunted between stables until he found his home in the yard of Suleiman Attolahi in Bangalore. He won his first start by a distance and was equally impressive in his second. However, it was only in his maiden classic attempt, that the racing world really sat up and took notice. This was in Bangalore, in the Colts' Trial Stakes over a mile where he demonstrated when he came through on a tight run to make the rest of the field look pedestrian. He was pushed up to a mile and quarter and despite question marks regarding his stamina, he won well enough to stamp himself as the best of the classic crop. Since then, he has been beaten just once and that too by a filly who is out of the line-up from an injury sustained two weeks ago. The two fillies who will lay claim to his title are Temerity from Pesi Shroff 's yard and Hall of Famer from Padmanabhan's stable. Temerity won the Indian Oaks two weeks ago and Hall of Famer demolished her opposition in the Calcutta winter Derby in smart time. Supporters of both fillies are confident because they have won over the Derby trip while Serjeant at Arms has yet to even attempt it.
Those who have their knives out for him are convinced he won't stay and it is almost certain that the connections of the fillies will try and make this a very fast race to take the sting out of his devastating turn of foot.How Sandesh rides the colt will be critical. If he is able to switch his mount off immediately, he should be able to mow them down. This is the Derby however and every yard will matter.
Horses have been known to hit a wall with just 50 metres to run. How these thoroughbreds perform will matter on many different factors including draw, pace and luck. However, against the backdrop of the biggest race in India, it will be the one with the best temperament who is likely to merge the winner.
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