Bangalore: The Kingfisher Bangalore Derby, on Sunday, promises a whopping purse of Rs 71.28 lakh to the winner. However, trainer Pesi Shroff’s prized filly, Set Alight, has scared away the opposition. The Razeen-Set Aside daughter, who is expected to start as a hot favourite, takes on eight rivals in the race.

The three-year old filly is unbeaten in her previous five starts. The filly has shown a remarkable improvement in recent months. The light framed filly won the Fillies Trial Stakes by a wide margin, beating her stablemate Kiara, who herself trounced a good field in the 1,200m Deccan Chronicle Juvenile Sprinters’ Million, last Sunday.

Set Alight’s six-length-plus victory in the Trial Stakes indicates that she can tackle the tough and tricky Bangalore course with ease. The additional two furlongs over the Derby course may not bother her. Malesh Narredu partners her in the Derby.

The other contenders who merit attention in the race are Archipenko and Noble View. Archipenko had finished a close second to the celebrated colt Fleeting Arrow in the Colts Trial Stakes. His brilliant performance in that race had served a notice and he is the one to watch out for. The China Visit progeny, who was seen finishing on in the final stages of the race, seems to have matured well and he may go close to Set Alight, in the hands of jockey C. Alford.

Noble View, from the mighty stable of MAM Ramaswamy, won his last outing beating Caprioska over a nine-furlong race. His victory was authoritative and he bears watching. Noble View is B. Prakash’s pick for the Derby but the jockey feels the horse has to show a lot of improvement in the Derby to make a material difference to the outcome of the race.

The Derby Card

Kingfisher Derby Bangalore 2,000m Terms 3-year-olds only 4 pm: Archipenko 56 C.Alford 6, Vijayrath 56 John 8, Gentle Knight 56 M. Rajendra S. 1, Noble View 56 Prakash 5, Star Of Washington 56 Srinath 4, Star Presentation 56 A.Imran 9, Kickingking 56 Christopher 3, Sugar Ray 56 R.Marshall 7, Set Alight 54.5 M.Narredu 2.