Unravelling the classic conundrum – A preview of the Villoo Poonawalla Indian Oaks – Grade 1
- By Cyrus Naterwalla
The “Fillies Derby” is slated to take place this Sunday as the 75th running off the Indian Oaks will be flagged off at around 5 p.m. The race is steeped in history and is traditionally named after the estate of the Earl of Derby in Carshalton. According to the history books the origin of the 2 most famous Classic races was way back in 1779 at a dinner party hosted by the Earl for his friends. During the course of this dinner, it was proposed to frame a sweepstakes race for 3 year old fillies and colts over a distance of one and a half miles. The fillies race was named The Oaks after the Estate and the colts equivalent was graciously named – The Derby after their host.
The inaugural running of the Indian Oaks was way back in 1943 and it forms one of the five Indian Classic races. It is restricted to Fillies and is usually run in January, 2 weeks before the Indian Derby except on 2 occasions when it was run on the 1st of February.
16 Fillies till date have managed to complete the Classic double of the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks, the last of them being the wonder filly Jacqueline although this year’s race is conspicuous for the absence of the horses who finished 1st 2nd and 3rd in the Indian 1000 Guineas. The only other time that this occurred in the long history of the race was back in 1999-2000 when Her Excellency, Gold Dust and Ocean Breeze all 3 did not compete in the Oaks after placing in the Guineas. The largest talking point is the conspicuous absence of the Hyderabad Wonder Filly Lady In Lace and plenty of speculation is rife so it remains to be seen whether she will travel to Mumbai for the Indian Derby.
Her absence however, leaves a huge void and this year’s field of 10 appears to be lacking in class and quality. Some of the main contenders worth considering are enumerated below :-
MANIFOLD (Multidimensional xDhaawiah)
TRAINER :-Pesi Shroff
WEIGHT :- 57 kgs.
JOCKEY :- David Probert
DRAW :- 2
RATING :-88
STARTS :-8
WINS :- 4
This was always the long Term Target for Manifold after her brilliant victory over 2000M in the Bangalore Summer Derby where she beat Castlebridge, Olympia Fields and Kangra. She since then was upstaged by Lady in Lace in the Deccan Fillies Championship and was given a brief rest since then, returning to the track in late November in Mumbai where she gave a workmanlike performance over 7 furlongs to get the better of Themis by 2 lengths conceding 4 kilos. She was very well backed in the Indian 1000 Guineas and was given an aggressive ride right up with the pace but lacked the speed to match the milers in their finishing burst although after being passed, she was staying on again towards the finish and ended up beaten only a little over a length. This longer trip will clearly be to her advantage and the lack of any quality opposition further reinforces her chances. For the first time she will be ridden by a jockey other than Neeraj Rawal with David Probert stepping in to take the ride. There are rumours flying around that she has not been in work for some time but her recent gallop and spurt were both impressive and she looks very hard to beat
THEMIS (Lord Shanakill x Soul Society )
TRAINER :-M. K. Jadhav
WEIGHT :- 57 kgs.
JOCKEY :- P. Trevor
DRAW :- 9
RATING :-71
STARTS :-9
WINS :- 2
Themis actually was one of the few horses to get the better of Manifold early in their careers, when gaining a narrow maiden success in the Breeders Juvenile Fillies Championship back in March but she has only seen the hind quarters of her rival in every start that they have met since then. She finished 4th in the Fillies Trial Stakes in Bangalore and skipped the Derby to win a Class II handicap over 2000M. She travelled to Pune to contest the Pune Derby but ran a shocker that day and finished well down the field. Since then she has finished behind Manifold twice, the last time when 5th in the 1000 Guineas from where she has 3 ¼ lengths to make up. Themis is likely to stay this trip well which she steps up to for the first time and her preparatory work has been excellent suggesting that she is coming back to her best. Themis will be ridden by the man of the moment P. Trevor and she is the one most likely to exploit any chinks in the armour of Manifold
DAFFODIL (China Visit x Hills and Stars )
TRAINER :-Pesi Shroff
WEIGHT :- 57 kgs.
JOCKEY :- N. S. Parmar
DRAW :- 10
RATING :-76
STARTS :-8
WINS :- 3
Apparent 2nd string of Trainer Pesi Shroff and also like many stepping upto this trip for the first time but she is the next highest rated in the field after Manifold. She looked very promising when stringing together a sequence of 3 wins on the trot, stepping up slightly in distance on each occasion but then disappointed when an odds on favourite for the Kolkotta Oaks and easily beaten by Sana over 2000M. The consensus was that she did not stay that day and she was dropped to shorter trips on her next 2 starts, running a poor 6th in the South India 1000 Guineas and then failing to beat Uncle Scrooge over a mile on this track last time out. That form would give her no chance in this race and the only hope is that she will improve for the step up in trip with her mother being the winner of the Pune Derby and the Golconda St. Leger. She too however, has not had any track work since her last run 3 weeks ago which is a bit of a concern
AUBURN (Champs Elysees xAtwirl)
TRAINER :-Vishal Gaikwad
WEIGHT :- 57 kgs.
JOCKEY :- A. Sandesh
DRAW :- 4
RATING :-59
STARTS :- 4
WINS :- 2
Clearly has a lot of potential and has plenty of stamina in the pedigree so she is expected to stay the trip well but this race could be coming too soon at such an early stage in her career and she is running again with 9 days of her comeback run which was a fluent victory over a mile in Class III. She was thrust into the Pune Derby on just her 3rd career start and found that a bit too much to handle although she did travel well for a long way in that race before retiring after turning for home. Connections obviously feel that they have a reasonable chance to run her again in such a short span of time and the plus point in her favour is the field appears to lack a bit of quality. She looks to be an interesting outsider and could provide some value at a price
MERVEILLEUSE (Mastercrafstman xAttalea)
TRAINER :-Pesi Shroff
WEIGHT :- 57 kgs.
JOCKEY :-NeerajRawal
DRAW :- 7
RATING :-28
STARTS :-1
WINS :- 0
Another filly who is held in extremely high regard and looks to have a stamina laden pedigree but is being given a mountain to climb having made her racing debut barely a month ago. Competing over a mile in Class IV, she raced in the rear initially but made up good late ground to finish a decent 3rd to Albareto. She is sure to improve considerably for that run but is clearly being thrown into the deep end and has the lowest rating of just 28 in this field. However, she is almost certain to stay and the field lacks a bit of quality so it is remotely possible that she can find enough improvement to have a say and finish in the frame. Interestingly, the only previous maiden to win this race was Lady Madonna way back in 1975 and owned by the same connections. She is another who is given an outside chance to spring a surprise
In conclusion, Manifold appears to be the most likely winner here and has ticks in all the right boxes and looks hard to beat on the bare form. Auburn could provide good value at a price while those looking for an even longer price may be tempted to take an each way chance on Merveilleuse. Pesi Shroff has won this race for the last 3 years in succession and it looks very much like he will take that tally to 4.
(Disclaimer : Views are entirely that of the correspondent only and RWITC takes no responsibility for the same)
