In about 250 years of Indian racing, there has never been a day when all the races framed were black-type events; never a day when five Gr.1s were contested nor a day when an Indian Classic and the Indian Turf Invitation Cup were run on the same day. Miracle (Multidimensional - Khalila), unbeaten winner of six races, adds further gloss to the day's proceedings.

Standout Contender

Speak to anyone in Mumbai from Colaba to Versova and you will be told not to look beyond Miracle in the Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1. That's the kind aura which unbeaten horses have. "Back an unbeaten horse till he is beaten" is a very old racing adage. The aphorism is well known but what it really means is less widely understood. The old Cope's Guide explained it succinctly. It postulated that if one has backed an unbeaten horse in some of his early runs -- when he is at better odds -- and has built a credit, then that horse should be backed an even stake till his winning spree comes to an end. But Cope's also cautioned against jumping on the gravy train at a later stage. Every win increases the chances of the streak ending and the law of averages catches up. Several horses have long winning sequences but very few retire unbeaten. Elusive Pimpernel's twelve wins at the start of his career is a record in India in recent times. Among the fillies, Set Alight reeled off ten successive brackets before meeting her Waterloo. (Squanderer had a run of fifteen successive wins but that was after his solitary defeat.)

Indian 1000 Guineas, however, is not a race that has seen an abrupt halt to a winning run. (The emphasis is on winning "run"; fillies going into the race unbeaten with just or two brackets do not count). From Her Majesty in 1947 to Forest Flame earlier this year, we have had quite a few unbeaten winners of the race. Set Alight went into the race with eight wins, Her Majesty -- like Miracle -- with six while La Rondine had only one. Two of the unbeaten "1000" winners -- Set Alight and Alma Mater -- have been trained by Pesi Shroff whose handling of fillies shows glimpses of the maestro Uttam Singh, the trainer who gave him his first winning ride as a jockey. There is one point on which Miracle scores over others going unbeaten into the "1000". She is the only unbeaten filly with three Classics already in her bag on the eve of the "1000". Her average winning margin is a shade over three lengths. Ridden only by P.S. Chouhan in her six races so far, she is rated 76 and has points to spare.

Unbeaten runs come to an end for least anticipated reasons. Her Majesty's ended in the Indian Derby when her own pacemaker fell and the filly collided with him and almost came a cropper. She lost much ground because of that incident but still fought on gallantly to finish as the runner-up. Miracle had a small hiccup in her last race. Just as she had gone past the front running Soloist and set sail for the Judge, she faltered for a stride, perhaps hitting an uneven patch of ground, but P.S. Chouhan gathered her and she had no further problems. Such small moments spell the difference between triumph and disaster.

Trends (Last Ten Years)

The average field rating has been 62 while the average rating of the winners stands at 72 despite the victory of 38 rated La Rondine. Just two favourites, two 'got-abroads' and three top rated fillies have been successful and barring Gift of Grace in 2020, all other winners had won their previous start. Four outstation fillies have returned to their centre with the winner's sash. On an average, 11 fillies participate and there have been only two instances of the field being in single digits. On both those occasions, the favourite won. Among the professionals with a runner on Sunday, Pesi Shroff (four winners) and P.S. Chouhan (two wins) have been most successful, though one of the jockey's wins was for trainer L.V.R. Deshmukh. Three winners have hailed from the Usha Stud while Multidimensional is the only stallion to sire two.

Optimistic Hopefuls

Winner of the S.A. Poonawalla Million, Gr.3 and the F.D. Wadia Trophy, Gr.3 in her last two starts, Petronia (Kingda Ka - Smoke Ring) was supplemented into this race earlier this month. In the S.A. Poonawalla Million, Gr.3, Petronia had the measure of Regal Command who went on to place third in the Pune Derby, Gr.1 and Alicia, the winner of Nilgiris Derby, Gr.1 so that's an encouraging bit of form. The grey is a full-sister to Kariega and a half-sister to Sakura, two smart fillies who excelled around a mile. Petronia is trained by Hosidar Daji who learned his craft under Bezan Chenoy. H. Daji has done well with the odd horse that Mr. K.N. Dhunjibhoy has entrusted to him every now and then.

Queen O' War (Multidimensional - Dhaawiah) has the pedigree -- she is full-sister to Indian Oaks winner Manifold and Multifaceted who runs in the Spartan Poker Sprinters' Cup, Gr.1 earlier in the day -- and is a winner of two races including one over a mile. Her other two runs were in the Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million, Gr.1 and Pune Derby, Gr.1 and she was hugely disappointing in both. These two fillies have some reason to hope but need a miracle to get the better of Miracle !

Dragoness (Starspangledbanner - China Creek) is inbred to Mira Adonde and that imbues her with plenty of speed and a mile may be too long for her against higher rated rivals who are already winners over the distance. The other 'got-abroad' Teresita (Havana Gold - Titian's Pride) does have a miler's pedigree and is the lone outstation challenger. With just two starts under her girth, Teresita is a tad callow and a race as big this one probably comes too soon for her.

The Field

The field of nine has an average rating of 45. There is one unbeaten filly, three maidens, two 'got-abroads' and a solitary outstation runner. Five of the nine were born at the Usha Stud.

PAST THE POST

It was only in 1976 that the 1:40 barrier was broken in this race and the filly which did it was Mr. & Mrs. N.E.D. Pandole's Reprint. The current race record stands in the name of Myrtlewood (1:35:13). The race has seen a "full house" of 22 runners; in 1995 when Winning Pretty obliged and then in 2002 when Free Radical crossed the post first. In 1983, the race saw its smallest field -- just three runners -- ever; they went at a snail's pace for the first 400 m. or so and it developed into a sprint which Snow won. It is a coincidence that both Myrtlewood and Snow were born at the Usha Stud. Bay fillies have ruled the roost and the last chestnut to win was Venus Arising (2004) and Thumbelina (1992) the last grey. (Thumbelina hit the wire first, was disqualified for testing positive, appealed against disqualification and was reinstated after a protracted hearing.)

NOTE FROM ADMIN - This Preview was received before the Declarations.