The Fillies Championship at Mumbai has traditionally been run in mid-March. It is a race which hardly offers much context as it takes place when the Mumbai season is approaching its end. The March heat and a 4-month-long worn-out Mahalaxmi track have always repelled the best of the crop from this race. The other center’s parallel championships for juveniles do act as a pre-cursor to various important classics. The Colts-Fillies championship in Bangalore summer is a preparatory race to the Kingfisher Derby Bangalore (Gr.1), while the ones at Hyderabad, Kolkata & Mysore too are good indicators of form going into their respective monsoon Derbies. However, the one at Mumbai takes place after the much-hyped Poonawalla Breeder’s Multi Million (Gr.1) and about 4 months before Pune’s monsoon season. This is the time of the year when most younger horses are given their “summer sabbatical”. Having said that, this race has thrown some marvelous multi-classic winners in the past in Lei, Running Flame, Set Alight, Moonlight Romance, Starry Eyes & Tiger Tops to name a few.

The only time Arazan sired a winner of this race was in 2015 with Eternal Flame. This year Arazan has two representatives in the fray. Free Gold (Arazan – Free Radical) is the lone winner of a group race in this field. She won the Gool S Poonawalla Million (Gr.3) on the Indian Oaks Day by 3 parts of a length with Robbie Downey in the saddle carrying 52.5kgs and beat Dandi March comfortably. Five weeks later, she ran a poor 9th, about 6 ¼ behind Missing You in The Poonawalla Breeder’s Multi Million (Gr.1), failing to live up to the hype she created after her Million win. Nevertheless, that run can be ignored as she comes off a pleasing display in the morning trials and has a pedigree to make a case. Her dam, Free Radical won the Indian 1000 Guineas (Gr.1) in 2003. She is a half sister to the good-type Perfect Star, who too ran handsomely at a mile and hence the distance will be to her liking. An important point to note is that all the fillies will carry 54kgs except Free Gold, who will carry 57kgs. Free Gold will have to try her best to defy this handicap.

Kariega (Kingda Ka – Smoke Ring) is a half-sister to Sakura, who has won thrice at 1400m. Kariega started off her career with a splendid win as a 2-year old on the Indian 2000 Guineas Day. Leigh Roche partnered in her handsome win at 1200m by 3 ¼ lengths. Though, she later went down in The Ebco Worksmart Breeders’ Produce Stakes (Gr.3) to the public fancy Hunt For Gold, finishing 5th by 3 ½ lengths. She is coming off a gap of 6 weeks, with decent displays in morning trackwork recently. She will have to run her heart out to put that loss behind. Her Irish dam, Smoke Ring was unraced but her damsire Dalakhani was the 2003 European Horse Of The Year. Dalakhani won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Gr.1) as a three-year-old. Kariega can thus be thought of as a potential stayer.

One filly who deserves a mention here is Thailand (Top Class – Immortal Story). She is a full sister to The Calcutta Monsoon Derby Stakes (Gr.2) & Calcutta St. Leger (Gr.3) winner Shivansh. Thailand defeated Missing You comfortably at 1200m by 1 ¼ lengths in January. About 43 days later, Missing You commandingly won The Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi Million. Thailand contested with Missing You at level scales and hence that win makes a strong case for this Mukteshwar stud filly.  However, Thailand later lost to Dandi March in The Longchamp Million at 1200m. If Dandi March is assumed as a yardstick, then Free Gold might get the better of Thailand on Sunday. 

Mishka’s Pride (Total Gallery – Tsesebe) doesn’t give much confidence as far as her form is concerned. In both runs at 1400m, she ended 5th and then 4th, both times behind the winner Hunt For Gold. She is by Total Gallery, who sired the Bangalore Derby winner The Invader and is out of Tsesebe who won 3 races, one each at 8f, 9f and 10f. Tsesebe was by 1997 Indian Triple Crown winner Indictment. Interestingly enough, she had three progenies before Mishka’s Pride, none of whom won beyond 6f. Mishka’s Pride’s run will therefore have something to look out for, if only in the context of bloodline.
Éclair (Arazan – Yesteryear) is still a maiden after a couple of runs. In both the races, she was well  behind the eventual winners, who themselves don’t appear classy horses. Éclair, out of Juddmonte Farm mare Yesteryear, is unlikely to get much support on Sunday.

Turaco (Lawman – Almatinka) is the only got-abroad in this field. She had a solitary run in which she finished 4th. Turaco doesn’t have the credentials for Sunday’s outing and hence is best avoided. 

There have been four occasions where the PBMM winner went on to win the Fillies Championship - Winning Pretty (1995), Lei (1996), Priceless (2002) & Haunting Memories (2006). This year’s PBMM winner Missing You, is not a part of Sunday’s race and will indeed be “missed” by many.

Stats & Trivia:-

•    25th – The Sunday’s renewal will be the Silver Jubilee running of The Fillies Championship. It started in 1995 and was awarded Group 3 status in 1999.

•    10 – Number of Usha stud fillies to win this race, the highest across 24 runnings. Razeen (4), Steinbeck (2), Multidimensional (2), Belong To Me (1) & China Visit (1). Unfortunately, there is no Usha bred filly in Sunday’s field.

•    4 – Number of Razeen bred fillies to win this race, the highest among all stallions. Interestingly, Razeen sired 1995 winner Lei and 2003 winner Wave Of Bliss, both of whom were out of Canoeing. Lei and Wave Of Bliss hence are the only sibling pair to win this race.

•    18 – Number of wins by local Mumbai-based horses. There is no outstation challenger this year, however Bangalore has produced 5 winners while Hyderabad has sent out one winner.

•    11 – The biggest field across 24 editions, in 1997, ’99, ’01 and ’02. This year’s field consists of just half a dozen fillies and all of them are coming off a loss in their last outing. 

•    7 1/2 - The longest winning margin registered in this race, that too thrice. Set Alight (’08), Moonlight Romance (’10) & Starry Eyes (’13) all won by 7 1/2 lengths. But Set Alight clocked the fastest timing 01:35.5, which is also the quickest across all 24 runnings.

•    3 – Number of winners for B Prakash & C Rajendra in this race. Among the active jockeys, Suraj Narredu has 2 winners.

•    4 – Number of fillies to win for trainers Pesi Shroff & CD Katrak. Neither of them has a runner on Sunday.