Sir Cecil is a four-year-old grey, by Win Legend out of Elusive Trust, who will start as an overwhelming favourite for the 77th version of the Indian Derby

How times change. And with them, opinions and the odds. Sir Cecil, who was always quoted at cramped, on-money odds during all his eight victories, may, for the first time, touch the price of even money in the Derby on Sunday.  Sir Cecil, the ante-post favourite for Sunday’s Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby  (Gr 1), was once touted as a horse that would make the Derby a one-horse race.

The super horse, trained by the Bangalore-based trainer S Padmanabhan and owned by breeder Tegbir Singh Brar of Dashmesh stud farm, went on building up a solid reputation for himself as he went on winning race after race,
demolishing rivals at Bangalore, Mysore and Mumbai, and now enjoys an unmatched record  among the current classic crop: Eight runs, Eight wins. With each successive win, Sir Cecil also won legion of fans, until after the seventh win every racing fan in the country, including racing professionals — trainers, jockeys, horse owners — were unanimous that there was not a single four-year-old left in the country who could even hope to beat the champion horse.

Sir Cecil will be the first Derby favourite in history who will attempt to win the big race after being off the shelf for 48 days. Here is a look at the odds quoted on Sir Cecil during his eight victories so far: 45 paise to a rupee, 25 paise, 35 paise, 68 paise, 90 paise, 15 paise, 25 paise and 45 paise. It just shows how petrified and miserly the bookmakers were to lay Sir Cecil. As a fan of the horse, I just hope he takes the bookies for a royal ride yet again, and lets his backers laugh all the way to the bank.

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