The first Classic of the Mumbai 2018-19 racing season, the Spartan Poker Indian 1000 Guineas (Gr 1), will be the prime attraction of Sunday's nine-race card. Though, on paper, the race wears a rather open look what with nine three-year-old fillies taking on one another over the mile trip, the betting market may strongly favour the S Padmanabhan-trained Isn't She Lovely who will be bidding for her third straight win after winning the 1000 Guineas at Mysore and a class I contest at Bangalore in her last two outings. She will be ridden by David Allan.

Her challengers include Oomph & Merlot, the two western India fillies whose last runs away from home have boosted their stock; Arabia, whose fluent gallop caught the eye when she won her last start; and last but not the least--La Rondine who impressed me the most when, in what looked like a warm up exercise, she clocked classy final fractions when winning her debut race on the opening day of the current season.