Duty heads 18 in 1000 Guineas

French raider Special Duty features among a final field of 18 fillies in the StanJames.com 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday.

Criquette Head-Maarek's charge shot to the head of the betting for the one-mile Classic after success in the Cheveley Park Stakes on her final juvenile appearance, but was beaten on her return in the Prix Imprudence.

The strong home team is headed by the highly regarded Seta for the Luca Cumani stable, the mount of six-times champion jockey Kieren Fallon.

Nell Gwyn winner Music Show lines up for Mick Channon and will be ridden by current champion Ryan Moore, while Marcus Tregoning saddles the unbeaten Rumoush.

Barry Hills trained Ghanaati to success 12 months ago and this year he is represented by Sent From Heaven.

Richard Hannon runs the exciting Pollenator and the Irish challenge consists of Aidan O'Brien's Devoted to You and the Jim Bolger-trained Gile Na Greine.

Other interesting contenders include Lady Darshaan, Puff, Pipette and Blue Maiden.

There is the potential for confusion for punters as both Ed Dunlop's Habaayib and Godolphin inmate Hibaayeb have been declared.

Head-Maarek admits there are still some concerns in the camp that Special Duty's stamina may not last out.

"We are not sure she will get the mile. From what I have seen so far though she has been doing everything I've wanted her to do," she said.

"There are a lot of runners but that is good because they'll go faster and maybe she'll be able to wait behind.

"She was only half-fit for her prep race, you can't fault her for getting beaten there.

"She was not beaten far and she was beaten by a horse who had already had a run and they waited behind her.

"She needed that race and since then she has come on quite a lot.

"You can't forgot horses just because they lose a prep race but the distance is still a question mark.

"Hopefully we get her covered up, I'm not saying in last, and if she doesn't pull in the middle of the race she has a good turn of foot and she is capable of running a big race."

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Special Duty's owner Khalid Abdullah, added: "We are very happy with Special Duty at the moment.

"She did a very good piece of work at Chantilly with three lead horses when she finished well on the bridle.

"We are hopeful that she will get a mile and, while the Prix Imprudence wasn't the result we were expecting, in hindsight it had been a very cold winter, which certainly played its part.

"She obviously needed the race and was racing against horses who were much fitter.

"There was also the question of the sticky ground there.

"I don't like to make excuses but she was a very good filly last year and she was a bit unlucky not to go through the season unbeaten.

"Her trainer has a tremendous record in the race and we hope that her magic will work again."

Connections of Pollenator are dreaming of a fairytale victory on the Rowley Mile.

The Royal Ascot Racing Club are the proud owners of the filly, who is one of the first crop by their brilliant 2005 Derby winner Motivator.

Pollenator presented her sire with his first Pattern-race success when landing the May Hill Stakes at Doncaster last September and Harry Herbert, the RARC's racing manager, admits the connection has heightened anticipation.

"It's very exciting to have a filly by Motivator in a Classic. We had some terrific days with Motivator and this filly was his first Group winner," he said.

"It would be amazing if she could be his first Classic winner too. The story is good so far, so let's hope it continues - it really is the stuff dreams are made of."

Pollenator has been all the rage following an upbeat bulletin from trainer Richard Hannon on Wednesday.

The filly was said to have sparkled in her work and Herbert can also issue a promising report having made a trip to Hannon's yard.

"She's in great shape. I saw her on Thursday morning and she looked absolutely fantastic, she had a full summer bloom on her coat and she worked really well on Wednesday," Herbert said.

"She's got the form in the book to warrant a place in the race. She will almost certainly need further in time but she has the speed for a mile too.

"There's no question that she seems to have trained on over the winter and she's very forward. She hasn't had a run when some of her rivals have, but she's a typical Motivator in that she's a very active horse and is always on the move."

Pollenator beat both Hibaayeb and Seta in the May Hill and while she has yet to clash with the likes of favourite Special Duty, Herbert believes she is a worthy contender.

"Iknow her team thought that wasn't her true running, but we beat Seta at Doncaster. Her form last year was Group One quality," he explained.

"Special Duty is a wonderful filly and a Group One winner, but there is the question over whether she will stay a mile.

"We know our filly will stay and Richard Hughes knows how to ride her best.

"It's very unlikely there will be no pace in a Guineas and as long as there is a proper pace, Richard will sit with her as he knows she will be putting in her best work at the finish."

Fallon admits he is concerned about ground conditions being too fast for Seta, recalling how it ended the career of his brilliant 2000 Guineas winner Footstepsinthesand five years ago.

"She just doesn't want it firm because it will take her longer to recover," said the jockey.

"If you come down the hill at Newmarket on firm ground it can harm them, like what happened to Footstepsinthesand (winner of the 2000 Guineas in 2005).

"He got a really bad bruise and it finished his career, he never raced again, sadly, because I thought he could have been the best miler we'd seen for a long time.

"If they do water and we do get a drop of rain it should be beautiful ground and it will suit everybody."

Fallon was on board Music Show when she won the the Nell Gwyn and he has pinpointed her as a major danger this weekend.

"Music Show would have to be one of the biggest dangers, with the French filly obviously although there is a question mark over whether she'll stay," Fallon added.

"She (Special Duty) showed a lot of pace on her first start of the season but she just didn't finish off her race, maybe she wasn't 100% and she might step up from that.

"Music Show picked up from the back of the field carrying a penalty and went by them as if they were stopped.

"She did idle a bit when she hit the front and got a bit tired as well but she's a tough filly who has won there (Newmarket) twice so she knows where she's going."

Channon is hoping the rain stays away for Music Show. "I wouldn't like a lot of rain. She loves top of the ground," said the West Ilsley handler.

"I'm not saying she wouldn't go on little bit softer ground, but I wouldn't want it heavy. The only time she got beaten was on heavy ground.

"She only ran two weeks ago, so I haven't done a lot with her.

"She is probably as forward as I have had any filly in her coat, but that is because she is ready for it.

"She travels, she picks up and she has a kick as well. So I just hope she produces that kick at the right time and then hope that she is good enough."

Rumoush steps back a furlong in trip having won the Feilden Stakes at Headquarters, but trainer Marcus Tregoning does not believe she lacks gears.

"She's from the Shadwell Foundation mare Height Of Fashion and the bloodline often gets good ones like this," said the trainer.

"The drop back to a mile will be no problem and I think she goes there with a reasonable chance.

"The big thing with her is her cruising speed, as she showed in the Feilden, and she is from a fantastic family."

Rumoush's owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's colours will also be carried by Habaayib and his racing manager Angus Gold is hopeful both will give good accounts.

"On her pedigree we felt Rumoush would certainly get further," said Gold.

"Sheikh Hamdan thought about it and said there is no guarantee she will get a mile and a half so we decided to have a go at the Guineas.

"I was pleased to see Habaayib finish second n the Fred Darling and was pleasantly surprised to see her get seven furlongs.

"She was running on at the end of that and is a nice second string to have."

Lady Darshaan has her first start since filling the runner-up spot in last season's Fillies' Mile and trainer Stan Moore believes she is stronger now.

"Jimmy Fortune rode her in work on Sunday and he thought she looked very well and said there were five fillies and there was nothing between any of them," said Moore.

"Basically whichever one has luck in running could win.

"He was third on her in a Group Two and said she had done very well physically since then.

"She's in as good a form as we could have her for her first run.

"The weather has played havoc with the fillies, that's why the race is so open."

Ralph Beckett saddles Fred Darling winner Puff, who was fourth behind Special Duty in the Cheveley Park Stakes, and Nurture, who is a maiden after four starts.

"We will find out if she can turn the tables on Special Duty," said Beckett,

"She was a long way behind Lady Of The Desert in the Lowther, a lot closer to her in the Cheveley Park and then finished in front of her at Newbury.

"She is an improving filly and when she ran in the Fred Darling our horses hadn't been running well.

"I felt they were behind so I was pleasantly surprised she could go and win and I think she has come on for it.

"We know Nurture stays and moves like she wants fast ground.

"I don't know if we would run her in the Guineas every year but with question marks over so many it seems the right thing to do.

"It will certainly set her up for the rest of the year and there is a pencilled in plan to run her in the Diane, which her grandam won."