The 74th renewal of the Indian Oaks, Gr.1 will see a highly competitive field of 9 fillies parading in the paddock. It is a rarity these days to see a field with a better average rating than in the recent past. This year's field has an average rating of 71 which is a good five points better than average of the last few years. Pesi Shroff's first Classic winner after he hung up his boots and took to training was Blue Ribbon who won this race ten years ago. No wonder the Oaks is the trainer's favourite for he has saddled five of the last ten winners and he will be represented by four 'got-abroad' fillies on Sunday. There are as many as seven 'got-abroad' fillies in the race, an unprecedented numerical superiority, and four of them will run in the colours of Mr. Vijay Shirke. This has not been a good race for 'got-abroad' fillies with just four of them winning in 73 years. Three of those, all trained by Shroff, have done so this millennium with Highland Rule in 1980 the only one to win in the 20th century.

The Indian Oaks is generally run five weeks after the Indian 1000 Guineas and the gap is such that it very difficult to fit in a race between those two Classics. One of Mr. Shirke's fillies is Mrs. Patmore who will be attempting to become the 24th filly to bag the 1000-Oaks double. Nine winners of the Indian 1000 Guineas did not participate in the Oaks. 23 completed the double but 41 failed with 32 of them at least finishing on the board. In the last ten years, only one top rated filly, Jacqueline, has gone on to win while four favourites have been successful.

There are three Classic winners — Mrs. Patmore, Silver Beauty and Aster Rose -- in the race but the top-rated filly is Temerity, the only other black-type winner running. She won the F.D. Wadia Trophy, Gr.3 in Pune. A favourite for the Indian 1000 Guineas, she appeared spooked and nervy at the starting stalls and ran no kind of a race to finish in the ruck. Since then she has worked regularly with Mrs. Patmore. She hasn't won yet beyond 1400 m., is by a speedy sire but from a very stout family and may be seen in a better light.

Silver Beauty won the Calcutta Oaks, Gr.3 from a very mediocre lot of fillies. In the Calcutta Derby she was a good eight lengths adrift of the winner Hall of Famer. Though Mrs. Patmore is rated equal to Silver Beauty, she beat Hall of Famer in the Indian 1000 Guineas by a head. That makes her vastly superior to Silver Beauty. The difference, however, is that while Silver Beauty (Aussie Rules - Maharanee) is a winner over 2400m., Mrs. Patmore (Holy Roman Emperor - Eliza Gilbert) is yet to race beyond a mile. Mrs. Patmore's sire has produced two Classic winners -- Smashing and Be Safe -- who have won over 2400m. at Mahalakshmi. Eliza Gilbert was purchased for 15,000 gns. at Tattersalls December 2012 sale. Trained by Jim Bolger in Ireland,, she placed third thrice in her first four starts but lost form thereafter. Her three foals in England are all winners, ordinary ones it has to be said, with the two flat winners winning from 2200m. to 3200m. In the Indian 1000 Guineas, Mrs. Patmore came from way off the pace and as her grandam is a half-sister to Classic Cliché (Champion 3YO Stayer in Europe) and My Emma (Yorkshire Oaks, Gr.1), one would expect Mrs. Patmore to get the trip and finish ahead Silver Beauty, despite a higher DI. Besides, she is much fresher, running on her home turf while Silver Beauty has had two races over 2400m. with travel from Calcutta thrown in. Silver Beauty will reckon that if Tiger Tops could do it two years ago, so could she.

Aster Rose (Multidimensional - Lei) has disappointed in her last two starts, first being beaten on the post in the Deccan Derby, Gr.1 by Star Nijinsky whose subsequent form has been poor. Then, she petered out after being in the fighting line in the Golconda Oaks, Gr.2 behind much lower rated fillies in Veronese and Frosty. She had her niggles at the start of the winter season and the dual postponement of the South India 1000 Guineas, Gr.2 upset her programme. She blew up in the Golconda Oaks being far from fully strung. Costly lapses those for she was the favourite in both the races. Her dam lost the Indian Oaks, Gr.1 by a neck to stud-mate Santorini Star while her half-sister Venus Arising notched up the 1000-Oaks double in 2004-05. She has the pedigree and class to be a live contender even if her current level of fitness and form is a matter of conjecture. The race course buzz suggests that Suraj Narredu will ride Aster Rose. Suraj Narredu, of course, has ridden Silver Beauty, trained by his uncle, in all her five career starts so the switch of mounts could be significant.

Frosty (Cape Cross - Miss Particular), also owned by Mr. Shirke, led the Golconda Oaks, Gr.2 field for much of the way and battled on well even after Veronese had passed her to keep the runner-up spot, a length and a quarter ahead of Aster Rose. That run would have given her trainer Pesi Shroff a line to Aster Rose. If back to her best, Aster Rose ought to reverse the placings with Frosty but Shroff will have a better tactical plan for Mrs. Patmore and Temerity. Miss Particular was knocked down for 25,000 gns., an amount less than the covering fee of   35,000 euros that Cape Cross commanded at Kildangan Stud in 2012. Cape Cross has produced a winner of the Epsom Derby as well the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Miss Particular's two wins in England came over 2000m. and 2400m. while four of her five foals abroad are winners with Staff Sergeant and Wolfcatcher winning at 2400m. or more.

To win a 2400m. race, a horse needs to have class, stamina, fitness and handicap in proper proportions. These four qualities, in the context of a race, are relative and not absolute. If ten sprinters run in a 2400m. race, one of them is bound to win but would that make the horse a stayer ? Some recent examples are eye-catching.

Silver Beauty won the Calcutta Oaks brilliantly. In the Calcutta Derby, she was beaten pointless by Hall of Famer while she finished ahead of nine other runners of whom Accolade was just half a length behind her. Hall of Famer was top-rated at 91 followed by Silver Beauty at 90 and Accolade a point less at 89. The result was in keeping with their relative 'class' while the verdict reflects their staying ability. In that race, the horse with the lowest DI -- and hence the best stamina quotient -- was Ballister. However, he was rated only 63 and he did not finish on the board. 

The much talked about race of Mathaiyus over 2400m. recently is another one worthy of a study. The five runners were all previous winners at 2000m. with Caesar's Star and Palatial boasting a win at 2400m.  The eight year-old Caesar's Star finished last after having been used to set the pace. The six year-old Palatial, giving 3 kgs. to the winner, was only three parts of a length shy at the wire. Would the result have been the same at level weights ? Aster Rose towered over Veronese and Frosty in terms of ratings in the Golconda Oaks and yet was beaten. It is possible that the loss was a direct consequence of not being fully wound up and Sunday's race should provide an answer.

The Dosage Index of a horse is generally -- and that is the operative word -- is a fair guide to a horse's  stamina potential but not always. The only filly with a course and distance victory in Sunday's field is Winter Renaissance (Courageous Cat - Winter House). Her DI is 3.80 and she will be hard pressed to excel against better rated fillies with superior stamina credentials. Another filly owned by Mr. Shirke is Mekong Delta (Art Conniosseur - Nessah's Princess). She finished on well to be within a length Mrs. Patmore and Hall of Famer in the Indian 1000 Guineas and so her rating of only 74 seems a bit ungenerous. The least experienced filly in the field is Et Voila (Varenar - Sayuri), a half-sister to hardy and classy No More Politics (former Ocean and Beyond), for she has had only three starts so far of which she won the first two. She had a set back, is being brought along slowly and will be ridden by Y.S. Srinath as the retained jockey Neeraj Rawal has opted for Temerity. Book Thief (Archipenko - Touch My Soul) has the lowest rating and could be one of Mr. Shirke's pace-makers.

PAST THE POST

To round off, some trivia which, hopefully, will be of interest.

Everyone knows that Pyare Miya won the Indian Derby as a maiden in 1975. Not as many would be aware that the same year Lady Madonna started the ball rolling by winning the Indian Oaks as a maiden. Pyare Miya never won another race but Lady Madonna added three more to her tally including the Eve Champion Cup, Gr.3 which she won in a new track record time.

Lady Madonna and her half-sister Abide both won the Indian Oaks. So did full-sisters Elegance and Heliantha and sisters-in-blood Starfire Girl and Academic. There are three instances of a filly and her daughter both winning the Indian Oaks -- Nava Ratna and Remembrance, Tosca and Fair Haven and Marchetta and Starfire Girl.

THE TOPPERS.  Owner - The Scindias of Gwalior - 5. Jockeys - Shamu Chavan - 5. Trainers - A.L.J. Talib and Uttam Singh - 7 each .Stud Farm - Poonawalla Group - 15. Sire - Razeen - 6.

There have been eight back-to-back Indian 1000 Guineas-Oaks doubles, the last which was recorded by Forest Fantasy (1998) and Running Flame (1999).