The eclipse of a super star brings in its wake enormous sadness if only because of the unrealized target. Set Alight by all considerations was an equine super star and should have won the mother of all Indian Derbys, the Gr 1 McDowell Signature Indian Derby as a matter of right. The pity is that she lost against the run of expectations. There is universal sorrow about her unexpected defeat if only because she had done everything right and put up a gallant show in defeat. However, the occasion got to her jockey Malesh Narredu who made crucial, tactical errors which cost the filly the crowning glory. Only a super human could have overcome the obstacles as the one Set Alight faced in her path while recording 10 glorious wins only to fall at the last altar.

For Dr Vijay Mallya who was coveting this event much more than anything in racing, it was a huge disappointment. Since the superiority of Set Alight, the all conquering daughter of Razeen, was never in doubt and all those aspiring to win this race had fallen by the way side and everyone was reconciled to the victory of the wonder filly, the abrupt twist to the script took everyone by shock though there are many who for the sake of opposing would say that they expected Set Alight to lose and that she was not as great as projected, and that so and so had better credentials. Antonios produced the best run of his life and provided his veteran trainer S S S Shah the third Indian Derby of his life and back to back success with the same stallion Glory of Dancer, one cannot help feel a tinge of sadness that the seemingly invincible filly should have been the victim.

For the connections of Set Alight, the defeat is hard to digest and it will take a long time before they forget the whole episode and they look forward to another horse of similar caliber to win them this coveted race. However, the scar will remain. For the Managing Director of URBB Ltd, Zeyn Mirza, the defeat of Set Alight, coming at the fag end of a glorious racing season for the company, the defeat was a tragedy. The defeat of Set Alight has provoked maximum response from race goers and the number of letters received in Public Pulse is truly amazing. No other event has provoked so much all round reaction.

For jockey Malesh Narredu, it is like nightmare re-visited. The defeat of Set Alight is totally attributed to the tactical blunder of the jockey. Set Alight raced keen in the early part, not settling till the seven furlong marker after a slow jump. Then Malesh made the mistake of pushing Set Alight into the lead early in a race run at a scorching pace even as Abs Fabs was rolling out. Perhaps the jockey feared that he may be cramped for room as he took a pro-active stand of setting up Set Alight by taking over the running earlier than he would have wanted to. In the event, Set Alight went sailing clear and opened up a lead of over five lengths which kept on diminishing in the long Mumbai straight. The final furlong proved most decisive in the race as Set Alight began to falter even as Antonios gained great speed and sailed past the favourite to the shock of the majority of race goers.

Icebreaker did not get a clear run in the final furlong but after being pulled out, covered ground to be just one and half lengths behind Set Alight and occupied the third position. Set Alight had slowed down so much that if Icebreaker had got a clear run, it is possible that she might have been able to get the runner up spot. The small made Icebreaker has proved herself to be a remarkable filly, having not gone out of frame in all her 12 runs and despite running in the Derby within a fortnight of having run the Oaks over the grueling trip and in the scorching heat of Mumbai.

Malesh Narredu felt that he did everything right under the circumstances in a interview with a colleague. He said: ``Hitting the front when I did was the best decision I could have taken at that moment. The leaders in the race were falling back and since Set Alight is a big-striding filly I didn`t want to get blocked on the rails. I am in the worst position as the jockey; it`s easy for everyone to blame me.” However, the defeat of Set Alight is bound to affect the career of the jockey as he has already lost the retainers job of Dr Vijay Mallya for the Bangalore Summer Season.

Trainer Pesi Shroff has won the Indian Derby eight times as a jockey. But as a trainer, he is destined to wait longer. It was a case of so near and so far. All he said after the race was: ``He took off too quick. What is the point now? Everything is lost.``

Set Alight may go on to achieve greater glory in the rest of her racing career and may even win races abroad or become a good broodmare and foal champions but the lost Derby will always haunt her connections.