Last month, we had a unique occurrence of an Indian Classic and the Invitation Cup featuring on the same card. This Sunday, we have the Indian Oaks and the R.R. Ruia Gold Cup being run on the same day.

The 79th Indian Oaks has for some time now seized to hold the interest of an average race goer looking for a good betting opportunity. The exploits of the filly Miracle have dampened the betting ardour. However, those for whom racing is as much a sport as it is wagering, Sunday's contest still holds much charm. Will the daughter of Multidimensional extend her unbeaten streak to eight ? Will she become the twenty fourth filly to complete the Indian 1000-Indian Oaks double ? Questions such as these are tantalising and the sheer joy of seeing a talented Thoroughbred in action means that Oaks will get the deserved attention.

Trends (Last Ten Years)

Let's go by numbers.

0 - None of the winners were having their first run on the Mahalakshmi track. No chestnut filly has won.

1 - One outstation filly (Isn't She Special) has won the race. Only filly to have won over 2400 m. previously is Immortality.

2 - The two Top Rated fillies to have won are Temerity and Manifold. P.S. Chouhan has ridden two winners.

3 -

4 - 'Got-abroads' who have won are Smashing, Tiger Tops, Temerity and Juliette. Multidimensional has sired four winners.

5 - The number of favourites who have obliged. Also, the number of winners born at Usha Stud.

6 -

9 - Winners saddled by Pesi Shroff.

On an average, eleven fillies go to the start. Average Field Rating is 62 and that of winners is 80.

Miracle

Miracle (Multidimensional - Khalila) has a perfect record of seven out of seven going into Sunday's race. After winning her maiden in February, she has raced only in black-type events. She has four Classics, three Gr.1 victories and one Derby to her credit. From the horses she has vanquished so far, Alicia, Zuccarreli, Stockbridge, Angelico, Teresita and Akido have won Classics to pay her a further tribute. Her average winning margin is a shade over four lengths and she is the only runner in the field to have won beyond a mile. It is quite certain that those who use 'form' to predict the result of a race will find it hard to find a flaw in her record.

Shroff's filly has nothing to fear from her four rivals who are still maidens. Yet, she does have something to prove. She has never essayed the distance of 2400 m. and that is her personal challenge. She is venturing into an unknown area and while we can estimate how she may tackle that challenge, it is only an estimate based on possibilities. First stop in assessing the possibilities is her pedigree. Miracle has eight siblings -- three abroad -- including two full-brothers. They have all raced, five have won eight races between them, one is Listed placed abroad and none has won beyond 1400 m. Miracle's dosage figures are -- 4-6-12-0-0 (DI 2.67) (CD 0.64). On this evidence, Miracle could find the trip a problem.

Against that, we also have the incontrovertible evidence Miracle has much more class than any of her siblings and has already shown that she can win at Gr.1 level over 2000 m. She has a good cruising speed, settles without a fuss where P.S. Chouhan places her, her change of gears is fluid as well as instantaneous and she has yet not had an opportunity to show how devastating her final burst can be.

The most important question, even granting that Miracle's stamina is as yet unproven, is whether there is a filly in the field who can exploit that chink ? Miracle comes from behind. Someone will have to enter the straight a good six to eight lengths clear and maintain the gallop to cause Miracle any serious concerns.

Best Of The Rest

This is indeed a contest between a hare and four tortoises and though the tortoise scored in the Aesop's fable, the four maidens are unlikely to find the hare wandering into a grassy field and falling asleep. Among the four maidens are two daughters of Multidimensional and they have an identical record of one placing from four starts. Aah Bella (out of Secret Garden) was second to Zarak in Pune over 1800 m. and followed it by being on the board in the Villoo C. Poonawalla Indian Guineas, Gr.1 where she was just a length behind Teresita who has subsequently annexed the Bangalore Oaks, Gr.2. Aah Bella is a full-sister to two black-type winners over 2400 m. in Keukenhof (C.N. Wadia Gold Cup, Gr.2) and Secretive Force (Governor's Cup, Gr.3). Hela (out of Fond Fantasy) is a full-sister to Bold Majesty (The Legacy Bangalore Derby, Gr.1) and Antibes (Bangalore Oaks, Gr.2) who, coincidentally, was also in the Winner's Circle in Bangalore, a day after Teresita's win. Aah Bella has a better rating while Hela may have Animous making pace for her. There is little to choose between them.

The Field

Only once before has the Indian Oaks been contested by just five fillies. That was in 1969 when that outstanding filly Fair Haven came from Calcutta. Fair Haven won easily by almost two lengths but had to survive an objection from the second placed Mumtaz. The average rating of the field this year is 41.

PAST THE POST

Purely from memory, there have been four instances in the past of an unbeaten filly running in the Indian Oaks. Two of them -- Her Majesty (1947) and Heliantha (1974) -- continued their winning ways and bagged the Ladies Derby. The other two -- Alma Mater (2012) and Forest Flame (2021) -- could only finish second. On the flip side of the coin, there is also the example of Lady Madonna who won the Indian Oaks as a maiden.

In the early days, the Indian Oaks was run a week before the Indian Derby. From about the early 1980s, the gap was increased to two weeks. There were, of course, some years when there was a longer gap between the Oaks and the Derby and in all those instances, the Derby had been postponed due to various exigencies. There was a three week gap in 2006 and the reason for that is not known. Four fillies have bagged the Oaks-Derby double with a week's gap and five with two week's gap. As such, there isn't any significant tilt one way or the other.

This year there is a three week gap between the Oaks and the Derby. This is considered to be the ideal interval for horses and if the three week gap is to become the norm, we may have more Oaks-Derby doubles.