Indiarace.com - india's first & foremost horse racing portal

INDIAN OAKS, Gr.1

By Major Srinivas Nargolkar (Retd.) | 17 Jan 2013 | MUMBAI


Major Srinivas Nargolkar (Retd.)

In the last 23 years, the Indian Oaks, Gr.1 has always had a sponsor except once in 2005 when the Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1 winner and the favourite won the race. The race has no sponsor this year either and that should auger well for Vijays Pride if history is to repeat itself. There are a round dozen fillies left-in and they include exactly half who last raced in the "1000" last month; four "got-abroads"; four daughters of China Visit; three whose last run was in the Golconda Oaks, Gr.2; two daughters of Bertolini; one multi-Classic winner and one filly who has a win over the distance. 

A fortuous bob of the head gave Vijays Pride (Bertolini - Designer Chic) the victory in the Gitanjali Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1 over Showin'off (Too Much Bling - Golden Dayjur). Five lengths behind in the sixth spot came Art of Enchantment (Excellent Art - Baffling) with Maple Star, Halle and Song Dynasty further behind. None of these six fillies have raced since then and they will carry the same weights again. What will change, though, is the distance. The extra 800 m. and they have to travel this time could have a bearing on the result. 

China Visit, the sire of Halle and Song Dynasty, has produced good staying horses like Moonlight Romance, Xisca and Snowscape and there are some staying elements in the pedigrees of both the fillies. They however, lack class to take a hand in the finish. Bertolini, whose daughter, the multi-Classic winning filly Vijays Pride will almost certainly start the favourite was a  consistent and classy sprinter. He won his two races at 1200 m. and 1400 m.and ran a mile just once in his 23 career starts. The progeny of Danzig line sires often takes its aptitude from their dam lines. (Sprinter Danehill has sired good winners upto a distance of 4000 m. !). Vijays Pride's unraced dam is a three-parts sister to Vodafone Epsom Oaks, Gr.1 winner Casual Look so there is class and stamina there. She comes from behind, is pretty relaxed in the running and the current cool weather in Mumbai should not unduly trouble someone dry-coated like her. Only two fillies, Equine Lover and Turf Lightning, have finished ahead of her in a race and neither is running. 

Showin'off  ran a splendid race last time out and was distinctly unfortunate to go down ever so narrowly. Overall, the pedigree of Vijays Pride is classier. Besides, the riding arrangements suggest that the connections place greater faith in their other runner. Art of Enchantment is by a sprinter-miler from a solid staying line. More than stamina, she needs to find improvement and her trainer having to flit from Calcutta to Dubai to Mumbai is not exactly to her advantage. Maple Star (Mull of Kintyre - Sonic Symphony) will be venturing into uncharted territory and there are no definite pointers that she will stay as well as her bracket-mate. Here, too, the choice of Colm O'Donoghue could be a significant pointer. 

The 1-2-3 in the Golconda Oaks, Gr.2, the weakest Classic run this year, will now take on a much better lot. Simply Stylish (China Visit - Silken Star) is bred to stay and she proved it conclusively at Malakpet. The question is whether she has the class to make a bid against much superior fillies. The revelation in that race was Dr. Mallya's Songlark (Singspiel - Ordoneyah). She showed a remarkable improvement of 11 lengths over Capital Attraction as compared to their previous running just 24 days earlier. The average winning distance of her sire's progeny is 2100 m. and her dam line is steeped in stamina. This race comes a bit too soon after her last essay, especially as she is a slight filly and not a free-sweater either. Jamie Spencer takes the ride on her and so she will be assured of proper assistance from the saddle. Pesi Shroff hasn't won a Classic since Smashing's victory in the corresponding race last year. Songlark will carry the same colours. 

If the Pesi Shroff stable is going through rough times at Classic level these days, Cooji Katrak's yard is even more quiet. Fond Memories (China Visit - Fond Fantasy) made her debut, a winning one, only during the Pune season. She then didn't race again till coming out earlier this month when she ran a rusty third over a mile. Just two starts so far so she will be  the least experienced in the field if declared to start. (A good gallop since her last race suggests that she will be in the line-up). Shades of Hamlet here. The difference is that Fond Memories has class and stamina in her pedigree for, after all, she is a sister-in-blood to Moonlight Romance whom Katrak trained to such great heights. She looks a tempting prospect despite all her inexperience. Of course, not all siblings have the same ability. There are countless examples of one being a star and the other a dud. 

Myla Rose (Bertolini - Feminine Touch) and Razeenaa (Razeen - Athabasca) are two well-bred fillies who are still maidens.  In 1975, Lady Madonna won this race as a maiden and in doing so clipped off nearly four seconds from the existing race record ! 

A couple of fillies are expected to drop out at the declaration stage so it won't be an unwieldy field and if there is a strong pace, it will get strung out and lessen the chances of traffic problems. Will the non-sponsored Indian Oaks again go the favourite's way ? Will a maiden once again come out on the top ? Will Pesi Shroff repeat his last year's Oaks win with a runner sporting Dr. Mallya's silks ? Will Cooji Katrak end his Classic draught with a filly so closely related to the best he has trained so far ? Or, will history be created ?  

PAST THE POST 

The grey filly Revelation won the 1985 Indian Oaks in taking style by slamming Eminence, the favourite and her stable-mate, by almost half a dozen lengths. She was trained by Bezan Chenoy for his father-in-law Mr. N.M. Irani who owned the filly in partnership with his daughters Mrs. Zeenia S. Lawyer, Mrs. Bakhtawar B. Chenoy and the breeder Maj. P.K. Mehra. Mick Kinane rode Revelation in that race while Pesi Shroff was on the favourite. Shroff took over for the next two winning runs of the filly in the McDowell Indian Derby, Gr.1 and the Charminar Challenge Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1. Till Moonlight Romance, another Usha Stud-bred filly came along, Revelation enjoyed the distinction of being the only filly to have bagged the Indian Derby-Invitation Cup double.

Revelation traces to Mindful and that clan has provided four winners of the Indian Oaks which is more than any other.  This is probably the the oldest Indian family. The Minoru mare Mindful was resident at Col. Hall-Walker's famous stud at Tully in Ireland. Four of her daughters  -- The Minx, My Realm, Queen's Dream and Artful Twinkle -- came to India in the 1920s. Queen's Dream and Artful Twinkle never went to stud but the other two were at the Renala Stud in the 1930s. Some mares from this family later found themselves in Pakistan. The family has excelled on both sides of the border. Notable winners, apart from Revelation, include Serenade (Indian Oaks), Nava Ratna (Indian 1000 Guineas and Indian Oaks), Remembrance (Indian Oaks), Multigem (Indian 1000 Guineas), My Pet (South India Derby), Lady Josephine (South India 1000 Guineas), Village Dancer (Pakistan Derby), Dominator (Pakistan Derby), Minlore (Pakistan Derby) and Star of Bhit (2000 Guineas of Pakistan).

Revelation's full pedigree reads - By Grey Gaston - Monica, by Prince Pradeep - Replica, by Rock of Gibraltar - Remembrance, by Flower Dust - Nava Ratna, by Short Hand - My Queen, by Sheridan - My Realm, by Royal Palm - Mindful, by Minoru. Every successive maternal grandsire in the pedigree has been a significant stallion in India. Incidentally, the Renala Stud stallion Short Hand was a grandson of Mindful. Short Hand's full-sister was later to become the dam of the great Princequillo.