The Gr 1 Poonawalla Mysore Derby is the last of the monsoon Derbys to be held in the country. The Bangalore Summer Derby and the Monsoon Derbys give a pointer to the shape of things to come in winter classics including the Indian Derby. From the evidence of performance all over the country it is clear that Bangalore Summer classic form continues to hold good.


Borsalino has further consolidated his position at the top by winning the Deccan Derby and is on course for completing a hat-trick. Super Storm appears the next best horse on the circuit followed by Equine Lover. All these three horses have shown their brilliance and until some new horse emerges, the horses mentioned should be dominant forces in classics in winter. The Hyderabad horses which won classics in summer have all peaked and don’t seem to be capable of making further progress. Shivalik Hero was unlucky to lose the Derby at Pune by a whisker and since we can draw a line from his performance at Pune and Bangalore, it is clear that the form of Bangalore Summer Classics is getting further consolidated. Equine Lover though will be missing from action in the Derby.

The Mysore Derby has traditionally attracted quality field and some of the winners as well as those which placed in this event have gone on to win the Indian Derby. Chaitanya Chakram, Elusive Pimpernel and Star Supreme readily come to mind. Other horses like In The Spotlight who ran in the Mysore plums have also won the Indian Derby. Starsky finished third to Ansbach in one of the Derbys and these two were involved in a photo finish in the Indian Derby, with the former winning by the proverbial whisker. There are a number of horses which participated in the Mysore Derby which have won regional Derbys and placed in the Indian Derby. The Mysore Derby, in short, has always been a race to reckon with not only for the keen competition that it provides but also for arriving at the strong contenders in winter classics. Thus it is not surprising that Mysore Derby attracts the best of the runners and also offers the richest prize money among the monsoon plums, with the winner taking home a minimum of Rs 75 lakhs which is much more than that offered at Hyderabad, Pune or Kolkata.


Borsalino who is bred at Kunigal Stud Farm by Padmanabhan has proved to be a veritable money spinner having grossed over Rs 2 crore in stakes. The compactly built colt is by a sprinting sire Choisir out of Indian Turf Invitation Cup winning mare Running Flame who has the distinction of racing in America and covered by different stallions in Europe. She has clicked with a sprinting sire as her stamina influence has helped Borsalino. Borsalino has good cruising speed, turn of foot and ability to last out gruelling trips at a pace which others find intimidating. He led all the way in the Bangalore Derby and left the field stranded. In difficult underfoot conditions, he held off the challenge of Machiavellianism with disdain in the Deccan Derby.

Coincidentally on both the occasions that Borsalino won the Derby, the going was on the softer side. Will his performance be as good in normal going? This is a question that is playing on the minds of several people. There is no doubt that Borsalino is as good on normal track as he is on the ones which have a cut in the going. He is a versatile horse and is showing significant improvement with every effort. He lost to Blue Ace over a mile at Mumbai with a start to finish mission during his formative stage. He could have won that race with a better quality ride. He showed no dislike for the hard underfoot conditions at Mumbai and as such, he is a champion with no limitations.

With no new champion emerging during the monsoon season, Borsalino should extend his winning streak beyond the Mysore Derby. He has the ideal build which should help him train on strongly and take the hard races in his stride.

Satish Narredu trained Super Strom has been a game performer. The progeny of Rebuttal was a champion first season champion horse but lost his way somewhat in summer. However, he bounced back by running an impressive second after circling round the final bend, going wide and still managing to beat all but Borsalino convincingly. He measured the highly talented Equine Lover in the Mysore 2000 Guineas and is in best of shape. Jockey Suraj Narredu believes that Super Strom has the ability to be a spoilsport. After the first season of Super Storm, Suraj had said that the horse will be more at home over the extended trip of 2000 metres than over shorter trips. The contest between Borsalino and Super Storm is what gives the Mysore Derby the exciting factor. Super Storm also has lucky owners on its side.

There are side actors in the race like Unforgettable, Wind Stream, and Maths Baby who are all capable horses in their own right. Maths Baby won a nine furlong race impressively with a late rally and as such, he should give a creditable performance. Despite going miles wide at Hyderabad, he was a length off Borsalino and this performance surely makes him a strong challenger. Unforgettable ran on well towards the end in the 2000 Guineas to finish a good third ahead of Wind Stream. He should show improvement and make things hot for the favourites. Simply Stylish and Courage In Red make up the numbers.