This will be the 80th renewal of the Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1. In the last ten years, it has been run once at Pune and even when contested  at Mahalakshmi, it has been sometimes over the mile chute course and lately over the round course. With a part of the mile chute being claimed for the metro development project, we will not see any more mile races with just one bend. Over the same period, it was not sponsored last year but had seven different sponsors in the other nine years. This year it is being sponsored for the first time by Arion Horse Company.

Arion Horse Company is the name under which horses owned by Mr. Diwan Arun Nanda run. Mr. Nanda's agency Rediffusion is one of the biggest and widely known advertising agencies in India. Mr Nanda has been in racing for about five decades and among the best horses owned by  him  are Adjudicate (in partnership), the only horse to win the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1 twice, Aggregated (Calcutta Derby, Gr.1) and Ashwamedha (Classic Pune Derby, Gr.1), to name just three. He has been a member of the R.W.I.T.C., Ltd. Managing Committee.

Trends (Last Ten Years)
All the ten winners had the highest rating in the field in their respective years. Eight favourites and the same number who had won their previous starts were victorious. No filly has won but three 'got-abroads' and five outstation challengers have hoisted the winning flag. On an average, there are ten runners and the average field rating is 67 and that of the winners 91. S.S. Attaollahi and Suraj Narredu have been the most successful of the professionals with two wins each. Colours of the Mistrys of Manjri Stud, late Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy and Mr. K.N. Dhunjibhoy have twice gone past the post first.

The Main Contenders
Mr. K.N. Dhunjibhoy's own-bred Zuccarelli (Western Aristocrat - Circle of Bliss), never off the board in his five starts, is heading for  a hat-trick. Exactly a month ago, he won the Pune Derby, Gr.1 with ease and five of those that he vanquished are opposing him once again. Neither Zuccarelli nor those Fallen Five have raced in the interim. Zuccarelli has won over a mile, he has been working and should have the public backing. The only Gr.1 winner in the field he also is a part of the Shroff-Chouhan caravan that is rolling along merrily. It is a bit of history which stands in the way of his being nominated as the "Stand-Out Contender".

Zuccarelli is coming back to a Gr.1 mile Classic after having won a summer/monsoon Derby. The record of summer/monsoon Derbys winners in the two Guineas at Mahalakshmi is rather patchy. Rashid Byramji's first eight Derby Bangalore winners  all -- barring Track Lightning --  ran in an Indian Guineas; Squanderer and Camino won but Prince Khartoum, Commanche, Manitou, Everynsky and Camineto faltered. This millennium, twenty seven summer/monsoon Derbys winners have participated in the Guineas at Mahalakshmi with fourteen winning and thirteen losing. This statistical observation has a genuine racing connotation. The summer and monsoon Derbies come at a time when the three year-olds are a 'work in progress'. The distance of 2000 m. is an intermediate distance and even the closest connections are really in the dark about which way their ward will go. Will he be a miler who can get a bit more or will he be a stayer lacking the speed necessary to win at a mile ?

Coming to Zuccarelli, he seems to have the speed and he likes to race up with the pace. His style of running suggests that he will not be found wanting at a mile and because he has beaten both A Star Is Born and Stockbridge every time they have dueled, he definitely has the upper hand. A lot will depend on how the race is run.

The outstation challengers have done well in this race with three out of five winners hailing from Bangalore. The two this year are both from Bangalore -- A Star Is Born and Stockbridge -- and they come across as the ones most likely to upset Zuccarelli's applecart.  A Star Is Born (Roderic O'Connor - Angel Dust) was just about three lengths adrift of Zuccarelli in the Pune Derby, Gr.1 and that is the only time they have clashed. Zuccarelli and A Star Is Born had drawn level with the pacesetter Sousa round the turn and they entered the straight almost upsides. A couple of left-handed cracks from Chouhan sent the winner on but the runner-up, even under Egan's urgings, failed to match the acceleration. That was the first time A Star Is Born had essayed 2000 m. and, perhaps, he will be more at home over a mile. Horses are not machines and their performance is likely to be affected by what one may call a "day to day variation". That is what gives A Star Is Born a hope. If Zuccarelli runs a couple of lengths below his best and he himself shows an improvement of two lengths, the verdict is reversed. A Star Is Born's dam Angel Dust, was a staying Classic winner. her younger full-brother Kensington won the Bangalore 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 on Saturday. Besides, the colt has raced just thrice so far, has always been in the money and hence there is a greater scope for improvement. This will be the first time that he will be ridden by Suraj Narredu.

Kensington is trained by Arjun Mangalorkar who is bringing over Stockbridge (Speaking of Which - Sheryl). He was a length and a half behind Zuccarelli in the Deccan Colts' Championship Stakes, Gr.3 where his stable-mate Kensington was the winner and his owner-mate Spinoza the better fancied. In the Golden Jubilee Deccan Derby, Gr.1, he was further adrift of Zuccarelli having been ridden in check and languishing at the tail-end of the field till the bend. He has won twice over a mile since then, winning a handicap on his own turf making the running and then winning the Golconda 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 at Malakpet. The last win was especially noteworthy because it was a while before he found the galloping room and when he did, just a couple of cracks were necessary to get him moving and thereafter it was a fine hands and heels ride from the upcoming S. Anthony Raj -- who continues the partnership -- which got the job done.  His dam, Sheryl, is a full-sister to the prolific Multitude. She herself was smart, winning three races on the trot after an educational debut. A training setback nipped her career in the bud and she went off to stud. If Zuccarelli and A Star Is Born get into a set-to early in the straight, it presents Stockbridge with a possible opportunity. Incidentally, Stockbridge won his maiden race beating  A Star Is Born by half a length with Teresita -- third to Miracle in Villoo Poonawalla Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1 -- third and Southern Dynasty (third in Bangalore 2000 Guineas, Gr.3 on Saturday) fourth.

The Outsiders
Red Merlot (Surfrider - Mateus Rose) has three wins already in the kitty. His sire got Trouvaille who won this race a couple years back. Red Merlot carries the cherry-and-black colours -- probably the oldest on the Indian Turf -- of the Goculdas family. Karthik Ganapathy, quietly exhibiting his skill, has an interesting pair of runners. His Darwin (Multidimensional - Allaire), a full-brother to the Deccan Derby winner Star Nijinsky, has won his only start but possibly needs more time as well as distance. His other runner, Regal Command, is still a maiden after four starts but has twice placed in Graded races -- first, within a length of Petronia in the S.A. Poonawalla Million, Gr.3 and then third to Zuccarelli in the Pune Derby, Gr.1.

The Field
The average rating of thirteen runners is 48. It includes one unbeaten runner (Darwin, just one start), one 'got-abroad (Sousa, who is also one of the five maidens and is the likely pacemaker), five having their first run at Mahalakshmi and two outstation challengers. Pesi Shroff saddles four runners and Karthik Ganapathy two.

PAST THE POST
In its long history, the Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1 has, on five previous occasions, had a field of 13 runners. "13" is universally considered an inauspicious number; but is it really so ? Just have a look at the previous five results:-

1950-51. SANGRAM. He was owned by H.H. The Maharani Seeta Devi of Baroda, the first lady to own an Indian Classic winner all by herself.

1965-66. RED RUFUS. India's first Triple Crown and Invitation Cup winner. He was owned by M/s. Devchand K. Foman & D.D. Foman who were common fishermen. RED RUFUS was the biggest 'catch' of their lives.

1991-92. ASTONISH. Indian Triple Crown winner and the first Indian-bred horse to win a flat race abroad.

1994-95. ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL. 22 wins from 23 starts. Five track records. By his own admission, the best horse schooled by India's best trainer, R.R. Byramji.

2001-02. WILD EAGLE. He was saddled by Arti Doctor, the first lady to train an Indian Classic winner.