Ganapathy trained Bold Majesty looks outstanding among the dozen horses contesting for the Gr 1 Legacy Bangalore Derby, the biggest race of the winter racing calendar, to be held on Monday. The progeny of Multidimensional is a multiple classic winner and is eminently capable of getting the mile and half with equal felicity as the shorter trips. On form and performance, there is none to beat Bold Majesty unless of course the horse himself performs below par.

Since there is only one formidable contender, many horses have been enthusiastically entered in the hope of a possible upset. There are three final entries including two from Hyderabad namely Alameda and Net Champ which never used to be case all these days. With no final entries permitted for Hyderabad classics, locally based trainers have to run their wards at other centres should they show unexpected progress after the entries for classics are closed.

The Hyderabad trainers rarely used to venture out in quest of classics as the local ones themselves used to be the preserve of outstation marauders. The trend has changed somewhat in recent years, with local horses enjoying fair success apart from fruitfully venturing out. Vijays Pride, Machiavellianism and Tintinnabulation won classics outside of their comfort zone. Alameda came tantalizingly close to beating Athens in the Bangalore Oaks and it was widely believed that the superior riding skills of Irishman Colm O’Donoghue which carried the day for the Mumbai challenger. Now with Pradeep Chouhan replacing Kuldeep Singh on Alameda, trainer Leo D’Silva is pretty optimistic. Another Hyderabad challenger Net Champ has shown his liking for long trips having been a winner over mile and half back home. Whether he has the speed to go with the more experienced horses is what determines his prospects.

The Bangalore Summer Classic form has a bearing on the winter classics all over India. Be Safe who won the Derby in July continues to reign as the number one horse in the country and is sure to go to the post for the Indian Derby next Sunday as the on money favourite. Culebra who finished second behind Be Safe on that occasion broke down and hence not seen in any classics. Tiger Tops who finished third has gone on to distinguish herself winning the Calcutta Monsoon Derby and the Calcutta Oaks besides finishing a close second to Quasar in the Calcutta Derby Stakes earlier this month. Bold Majesty who finished fourth in the Derby in July has gone on to win several classics including the Mysore Derby. Hence on that form alone, Bold Majesty towers over the rest as the other contenders are late developers. History has shown us that horses which are first season performers are the one who invariably dominate classics and late developers have often missed the buss.

Padmanabhan trained Torch Bearer gave an encouraging performance at Kolkata as he led the field into the straight before being overhauled by the superior and more experienced Quasar and Tiger Tops. Torch Bearer could be classified as a late bloomer. The progeny of Burden of Proof out of the widely travelled Indian champion mare Running Flame, Torch Bearer could be the one posing a stiff challenge to the favourite.

Athens has no issue with the distance but the fact that Pure Allure who finished two lengths behind her in the Oaks performed poorly in Indian Oaks does not enhance the value of Bangalore Oaks win. However, the fact that Athens is a stout stayer and is also improving with every run should make her a worthy opponent. Del Santo won well last time out over seven furlongs and he is being thrown at the deep end. The transition may be difficult to make for this talented son of Dancing Forever. Azzurro and Alameda who are final entries have some catching up to do. Authentic is a stayer but whether he has the class remains to be tested.