The Gr 1 Deltin Casinos Indian 2000 Guineas, the feature event of Sunday`s races, looks highly competitive but Bangalore challenger Murioi who has shown exceptional form during the ongoing season has an edge. Alaindair, Silver Arrow and Marinsky are the others who are stiff opponents by any standards. The pace of the race is going to be hot and there is no margin for error on the part of the jockeys. Apart from these contestants putting their best foot forward what is of crucial importance is also the quality of jockeyship that each gets in this most important race of their career.

With the form of each of the contestants having been well advertised, there are no hidden virtues to look for. The horse to impress during his first season was Ganapathy trained Murioi who has had a chequered career. After being disqualified for cutting an erratic course in Bangalore, the three year old son of Dubawi went on to beat a high quality field in the Gr 1 Poonawalla Multi-Million. Murioi looked out of sorts during the summer season though he did beat Marinsky in his first run of the season. Murioi bounced back and showed the spark of old when he ran a blinder of a mock race in Bangalore in November where he beat a decent type of horse in Supreme Regime by about 18 lengths without being asked to stretch out. He showed that was all well with him when he gave weight and a beating to Circle of Life who finished second to Marinsky last week in the 1000 Guineas.

	Murioi (B Sreekanth up) winner of the Metro Motors Auto Hangar Sir H M Mehta Million, being led in by trainer S Ganapathy

Murioi looks physically stronger than ever before and this has manifested in his performance during the season. The special quality of Murioi is his extra-ordinary ability to change gears and sparkling acceleration which has left the opposition flat footed. In the early part of his career, he was ridden way off the pace but now he has shown that he can race up with the pace and then quicken as well. He has proved that there is no need to ride him in exaggerated check and has looked more menacing after being allowed to go at his natural cruising speed to take care of the early stages of the race. The only concern has been his tendency to roll in once he has overtaken the front runners. He survived an objection when he won the Poonawalla Multi-Million for hampering the progress of Starry Eyes and again when he beat Circle of Life there was a Stewards enquiry whether his inward drift which caused Circle of Life to be checked warranted any drastic decision from the Stewards. Luckily, Murioi kept the result on both the occasions though at Bangalore he was once disqualified for this trait. Sreekanth will be riding him on the big occasion and he knows the horse well but he can do little if the horse gets into his wayward mood. This is one troubling nature of this highly talented son of Dubawi.

Altamash Ahmed trained Alaindair hasn`t done anything wrong thus far. The dual classic winning son of Multidimensional is a winner of two Group I races and hence commands respect straightaway by virtue of these performances. Alaindair handled the diverse conditions en route to both his successes in Bangalore. One has seen over the years, the Bangalore Summer Classic form being a strong pointer up to and including the Indian 2000 Guineas. Alaindair won his lead up race pretty impressively and his track work outs points to his well being. Alaindair is surely the prime contender for the Guineas and going by the achievements of the contestants thus far, it should be a straight fight between him and Murioi.

However, things are not going to be that simple. The progeny of Verglas, Silver Arrow has not put a foot wrong when winning four races. Unfortunately, he hasn`t faced any stiff opposition so much so that his jockey had the luxury of relaxing as long as he wanted before alighting Silver Arrow to the task. The three year old colt is blessed with an amazing turn of foot but it remains to be seen how he performs in situations where he has to expend in energy in keeping with the pace of the race which is going to be hot as the race also has a few pace makers in the fray. Silver Arrow has done everything that he has been asked thus far and the only thing that one can hold against him is that he hasn`t beaten horses that could have stretched him in a race. He has had an easy lead up thus far to this big classic.

Marinsky is another big challenger who is in the fray within a week of winning the Indian 1000 Guineas in amazing fashion. Marinsky is blessed with high cruising speed and she had the field beat in the 1000 Guineas well before the race came on the boil. She has all the qualities that are required to make her presence felt among colts. She is a final entry in the race and one is sure that her trainer Pesi Shroff knows what he is attempting having successfully achieved this feat with Jacqueline. The one thing that might go against her is the fact that the progeny of Burden of Proof don`t take too much of racing and dislike being trained hard. But then are exceptions and Marinsky could well prove to be one.