Market fancies
The top two market favourites, in all likelihood, will be Santissimo and Ranquelino.
Santissimo (Gusto - Beldon Hill; Br: Track Supreme)
Comment: Winner of seven races from nine starts, this Pesi Shroff-trained colt is fit as a fiddle. English jockey Oisin Murphy, who rode him to victory in the 2000 Guineas, will again specially fly in to ride him on Sunday
Ranquelino (Fiero - Sunset; Br: Manjri)
The most talked about horse at the moment, though winner of only four races from nine starts. But those who have seen his Bangalore Derby victory, when he made the Pune Derby winner Redefined look pedestrian, are his biggest fans. Trained by Darius Byramji and will be ridden by A Sandesh
The challengers
There are three main challengers, and all of them, like Ranquelino, have won their last race over the same trip as the Indian Derby (2400m)
Casteel (Sanus Per Aquam - Castle Queen; Br: Kunigal)
He made a winning debut at Bangalore under trainer Satish Narredu in July last year, before successfully raiding Mysore and Kolkata. At Kolkata he bagged the monsoon Derby, the 2000 Guineas and the winter Derby. Jockey Suraj Narredu, who rode him during all successes, rides him on Sunday too
Psychic Star (Multitude - Psychic Light; Br: Usha)
One of the six fillies in the fray, Psychic Star had done the unthinkable when, in quick succession, she won at three different centers (Pune, Huderabad and Mumbai). She rested for only three weeks after her loss in the 2000 Guineas, but bounced back to claim another Classic, the Villoo C Poonawalla Indian Oaks (Gr 1) over 2400m. Her regular companion is jockey Vivek G
Duke Of Tuscany (Cougar Mountain - Nicollini; Br: Nanoli)
Coming under the care of Pesi Shroff after his original trainer got suspended, Duke Of Tuscany, with P Trevor astride, posted an easy victory in the HPSL Golconda Derby Stakes at Hyderabad in last start
Joker in the pack
There is a horse in this fray who may go out at 50-to-1 or 100-to-1 when the 16 runners line up in front of the stands to face the starter at 5.45 pm on Sunday. After a promising start (winning the first two races of his career), the horse has consistently faltered in the next half a dozen runs, but strangely, maintains his inherent class numbers which is inexplicable. The horse is Dash (Phoenix Tower - See The Sunrise; Br: Manjri) trained by Malesh Narredu, to be ridden by his son Yash--the same father-son pair who had won the Derby last year with Enabler
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