NO TRIFLING MATTER!

The Indian Derby has been contested in the first quarter of the year for 64 consecutive seasons, and prior to 2006 had fallen to a runner conceived abroad on only 5 occasions - Canny Scot, Prince Pradeep, Mohawk, Supervite (on disqualification of Saddle Up) and Starsky forming the quintet. By his brave effort on February 5th, 2006, Velvet Rope added his name to this select list.

TRUFFA

A son of the Coolmore stallion, Turtle Island, now assigned to National Hunt duties as a result of his failure to set the breeding world on fire, Velvet Rope is out of the unraced Selkirk mare Truffa[IRE]. A product of the fairly well-known Italian breeding operation, Razza del Piano del Lago di Fattoria di Marcianella Srl, Truffa[IRE] is half-sister to a number of winners in Italy.

The dam of all these, the precocious Listed-placed Treble Hook, was a home-bred who raced with some success at 2 years in Ireland for Major Victor McCalmont, but failed to train on.

However, many of Treble Hook's subsequent siblings, including the very good racehorse, Victory Note (by Fairy King), winner of the Poule d'Essai des Poulains-French 2000 Guineas, Gr.1, in 1998, were products of England's Genesis Green Stud, owned and operated by the Swinburns, who have had a long and close association with India. They acquired the mare Three Piece, in foal to Shareef Dancer, in the winter of 1991.

As Turtle Island is also a son of Fairy King, whoever planned the mating of Truffa[IRE] with Velvet Rope's sire was clearly attempting to replicate the winning formula and succeeded beyond belief!

Acquired by Nilagiri Stud Farm through Hugo Merry Bloodstock, Truffa[IRE] was retired to the Sohna Stud near New Delhi. When Velvet Rope was a foal at her side, the mare was mated with the resident stallion at that establishment, Conquering Hero[USA], who has made a name as an excellent sire of speedy horses. The result was a 2003-born filly which, under the name of Petronella, has proved to be among the fastest of her generation with a victory in the 1000 m. Pratap Stud Million, Gr.3, to her name.

So is the family a speedy one or a staying one? On the face of it, few expected Velvet Rope to stay the Indian Derby distance of 2400 m. what with his sire, maternal grandsire and sire of his third dam (Jaazeiro) all being milers, while the sire of his second dam, Ballad Rock, was a pure sprinter. Yet a deeper analysis shows plenty of stamina reserves. Three Piece's half-brother Welsh Term was an excellent stayer, while her fourth dam admittedly too far away to have too much influence was the grand mare Bagheera, winner of the Grand Prix de Paris (when it was a 3,200 m. event for three-year-olds), the Prix de Diane-French Oaks, and the Prix Vermeille, and placed over 2 1/2 miles in the Ascot Gold Cup.

This does not necessarily mean that Petronella will see out the 2,400 m. trip. Her demonstrated aptitude is for sprinting and she may well have inherited a preponderance of the sprinting genes that are plentiful in her pedigree. On the other hand, as the only filly to have beaten Haunting Memories, and with only a solitary filly of her generation, Giacosa having shown herself to be superior