Pesi Shroff trained Marinsky has best credentials to win the Gr 1 Deltin Casinos Indian 1000 Guineas, the first classic of the Mumbai racing season, scheduled to be run on Sunday. The daughter of Burden of Proof has progressed remarkably right from the time she made her debut as a two year old last year at Pune and has recorded a hat-trick of wins beginning with the F D Wadia Trophy at Pune, Fillies Championship at Kolkata and Bangalore 1000 Guineas. The last win was breathtaking.

There are 13 runners in the fray and this includes Bangalore Fillies Championship Stakes winner Amelia. The daughter of Multidimensional won the Grade I race with remarkable ease though it must be said that Marinsky who finished third on that occasion had a hampered run and did not get a quality ride from her jockey. Amelia won the Fillies Championship at Hyderabad during the monsoon season. Since then she has had two mock races, one at Pune and the other one at Mumbai. Both the mock races weren`t spectacular thought it must be said that Amelia hasn`t done anything wrong in races up to a mile and as such, it could prove a costly exercise for anyone to ignore her chances. Amelia`s dam Adamile is the winner of Super Mile at Chennai. Amelia has been working well and it remains to be seen if she reproduces the spark of summer season to retain her supremacy over the opposition whom she has already beaten barring a couple of new hopefuls.

Cooji Katrak trained Starry Eyes came to Bangalore for the summer season with the tag of being the best three year old filly in the country. Both her runs were way below her known potential and on both occasions she was guided by Suraj Narredu. The same jockey will be astride the horse for the Guineas as well. Starry Eyes won her lead up race quite well though the race was run at a crawl with the timing for the seven furlongs trip being a couple of seconds slower than the one clocked by another three year old Alaindair in another race. Of course, the reason why the timing was slow was because of the pace of the race. Nevertheless, the filly has shown a tendency to lug out badly and jockey Suraj who hasn`t won any Indian classic thus far, will not only have to handle the pressure of the big occasion but also the filly`s waywardness. Starry Eyes also bled during the Fillies Championship in Bangalore and one has to see whether the pressure of the race will have any adverse effect on her. Her preparation thus far has been satisfactory.

There is the promising Circle of Life who however has just one win to her credit. Her manner of running suggests that she may be more at home over the Oaks trip. Her trainer Pesi Shroff is pretty confident that the filly has the class and everything depends on English champion jockey Richard Hughes` ability to conjure a magical ride on her. At this point of time, she has a fair bit of catching up to do.

Noshir Cama trained Beforememoryfades who is the daughter of French Derby winner Lawman, has won twice in impressive fashion but going into the race of this nature, she will be surely be short on experience. However, the quality of support in the saddle will be of exceptional class as French champion jockey Olivier Peslier will be astride her. Unfortunately, the new rule restricting foreign jockeys from riding horses other than the ones owned by the owner who retains the services of these professionals has resulted in the champion jockey riding two mediocre horses. Racing thrives on competition but the rule of the Turf Authorities of India is not going to help matters as the quality of jockeys available in India is poor and most of them are overbooked or blocked that any individual owner, having a good horse, will have a nightmare finding a good jockey. The rule favours only the privileged and encourages mediocrity as well. As such, sooner the Turf Authorities of India throws out this archaic rule, the better it is for the quality of racing. Right now we are condemned to mediocrity.

Be that as it may, there is one more horse of top pedigree in Sheer Class who however has not lived up to expectations. It is possible that she needs longer trips to prove her mettle but her abject surrender to Beforememoryfades does not augur well for her at least in this race. If she produces something spectacular, one has to describe it as being part of the glorious uncertainties of the sport.

Padmanabhan has taken Isn`t She Special to race in the Guineas despite the filly have been well beaten in the Bangalore Guineas. The trainer believes that the filly has scope for improvement and since there aren`t many top fillies in the fray, there is nothing wrong in being optimistic. After all, she has won the Mysore Guineas.

Mint Approach who had the beating of Alaindair last Mumbai season, Keukenhof and Trance are the horses carrying the optimistic hopes of their enthusiastic supporters.